FERTILITY DESIRE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HIV POSITIVE WOMEN IN REPRODUCTIVE AGE ATTENDING ART CLINIC AT HIWOT FANA COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL, EASTERN ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

Background: Desire to have more children are a normal phenomenon in many developing countries including Ethiopia .The Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome prevalence recently in Harar was highest next to Addis Ababa and Gambela and many of them are reproductive age group female who may have concerns on their fertility desire Despite the overwhelming effects of HIV on fetus and the growing number of women living with HIV/AIDS, the choice to have children among HIV-infected people may additionally increase. the issues of fertility desire. This study aimed to assess fertility desires and associated factors among HIV positive reproductive-age women attending ART clinics at Hiwotfana Hospital eastern Ethiopia Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on reproductive-age womenattending the ART clinics at Hiwotfana comprehensive specialized University Hospital from August 1/2021 to March 10/2022 Four hundred and twelve (412) study participants were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Data was collected by using interviewer-administered pre-tested structured questionnaires. The collected data was entered into EPI data version 3.1 software and then was exported to Stata software version 14for cleaning and data analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors at p<0.05 were considered significant value with a 95% confidence level. Result: The findings indicated that 44.2% (95% CI; 39.62%, 48. 92%).of the participants reported they had the desire to have children in the future. Variables such as women in the age group of 25–34 years (AOR= 2.10, 95% CI; 1.32, 4.35), having experienced of abortion(AOR=1.48,95%CI;1.35,2.21), married women (AOR=2.23, 95% CI; 2.06, 7.12) and Women with partner participate on the study (AOR=2.82, 95% CI; 1.42, 9.43) had a positive association with the outcome variable, whereas, having number of a live children (AOR=.24, 95% CI; 0.08, 0.59). had a negative association with fertility desire Conclusion and Recommendations: The proportion of HIV-positive reproductive age women with desire for children was high. programmers and policy- makers throughout the region and consider the effects of these factors on HIV-positive women, as they develop intervention