Assessment Of Knowledge Attitude Practice Among Mothers About Vct And Feeding Of Infants Born To Hiv Positive Women In Jimma Town Ethiopia

Background: In Ethiopia, 96 000 children under fifteen live with HIV, which is related to thernprevalence rate of HIV/AIDS and mother to child transmission (MTCT) of the virus.Withoutrnintervention, the risk of MTCT of HIV is 15-30% in non breastfeeding populations;rnbreastfeeding by an infected mother increases the risk by 5-20% to a total of 20-45%. Studiesrnhave also shown the variation in MTCT rates by duration of breastfeeding, exclusivity ofrnbreastfeeding, and the danger of mixed feeding.rnObjectives: This study was aimed at describing the levels and identifying determinants ofrnknowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of mothers about VCT and feeding of infants born tornHIV positive women.rnMethods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using quantitative method onrn876 mothers (231 pregnant and 645 lactating) residing in Jimma town in December 2004 tornJanuary 2005, and in-depth interviews on 12 health workers working in VCT/PMTCT servicernproviding health institutions of the town.rnResults: Among the mothers (n=876), 38.8% had sufficient knowledge about MTCT (duringrnpregnancy, labor, breastfeeding), 41.8% had sufficient knowledge about PMTCT, 30.5% hadrnsufficient knowledge about infant feeding options recommended to HIV positive women,rn62.4% had favorable attitude to wards VCT, 4.7% had favorable attitude towards the feedingrnoptions, 84.5% visited health institutions for antenatal care and 35.7% used VCT servicernduring their last pregnancy. The lactating mothers (n=643) practiced mixed feeding 81%,rnexclusive breastfeeding 13.4% and exclusive replacement feeding 0.4%, and most (90.9%) ofrnthe pregnant mothers intended to mixed feed their infants of age 0-6 months. Based onrnlogistic regression analysis, knowledge of the mothers about the infant feeding options wasrnsignificantly associated with their address, age, husbands being important persons for mothersrnviiirnto decide on how to feed their infants, and counseling mothers on infant feeding during ANC.rnMothers’ attitude towards the feeding options significantly associated with their address.rnInfant feeding practices of lactating mothers was also having a statistically significantrnassociation with their ANC use, place of delivery, and address. Most of the health workersrn(in-depth interview participants) provided directive advice about the infant feeding optios, andrnmost didn’t include the options heat treated expressed breast milk and HIV negative wetrnnurse. The participants mentioned mainly failure to afford formula milk, fear ofrnstigma/discrimination, and partners not involved in HIV test as reasons for non adherence ofrnHIV positive mothers to exclusive replacement feeding; while the mothers’ sickness tornexclusive breast feeding. In turn, the mothers shifted to mixed feeding.rnConclusion: Mixed feeding increases the risk of non HIV diseases like diarrhea andrnmalnutrition for infants of age 0-6 months, and for most of mothers didn’t know their HIVrnstatus potentially increases risk of MTCT of HIV. Therefore, strengthening counselingrnmothers on safe infant feeding practices, and introducing an appropriately designed BCCrnprogram to the community on safe infant feeding practices and importance of partners’rninvolvement in HIV testing and other recommendations are forwarded.rnKey words: - Infant feeding, VCT, PMTCT, MTCT.

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