Quality of Life, Optimism/Pessimism, and Knowledge and Attitudes Toward HIV Screening Among Pregnant Women in Ghana Article

Moyer, CA, Ekpo, G, Calhoun, CL et al. (2008). Quality of Life, Optimism/Pessimism, and Knowledge and Attitudes Toward HIV Screening Among Pregnant Women in Ghana . WOMENS HEALTH ISSUES, 18(4), 301-309. 10.1016/j.whi.2008.02.001

cited authors

  • Moyer, CA; Ekpo, G; Calhoun, CL; Greene, J; Naik, S; Sippola, E; Stern, DT; Adanu, RM; Koranteng, IO; Kwawukume, EY; Anderson, FJ

authors

abstract

  • Objective: We sought to explore optimism/pessimism, knowledge of HIV, and attitudes toward HIV screening and treatment among Ghanaian pregnant women. Method: Pregnant women in Accra, Ghana, completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R, an optimism/pessimism measure), an HIV knowledge and screening attitudes questionnaire, the Short Form 12 (SF-12, a measure of health-related quality of life [HRQOL]), and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, correlations, and the χ2 test. Results: There were 101 participants; 28% were nulliparous. Mean age was 29.7 years, and mean week of gestation was 31.8. All women had heard of AIDS, 27.7% had been tested for HIV before this pregnancy, 46.5% had been tested during this pregnancy, and 59.4% of the sample had ever been tested for HIV. Of those not tested during this pregnancy, 64.2% were willing to be tested. Of all respondents, 89% said they would get tested if antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) were readily available and might prevent maternal-to-child transmission. Neither optimism/pessimism nor HRQOL was associated with attitudes toward HIV screening. Optimism was negatively correlated with HIV knowledge (p = .001) and was positively correlated with having never been tested before this pregnancy (p = .007). Conclusion: The relationship between optimism/pessimism and HIV knowledge and screening behavior is worthy of further study using larger samples and objective measures of testing beyond self-report. © 2008 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health.

publication date

  • July 1, 2008

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 301

end page

  • 309

volume

  • 18

issue

  • 4