Rajasekaran S, Loo V, Paramesh P, Jeyaseelan L, Warren D; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).

Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. C12063.

Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram, India

Background: In India, discrimination against women may present additional burdens for women who seek care for HIV-related illness. However, little is known about the care of HIV-infected women who are not commercial sex workers and are not attending an antenatal clinic. We examined socio-demographic characteristics and patterns of health care seeking behavior among HIV-infected women attending a government thoracic hospital in Tamilnadu State, India that specializes in the care of tuberculosis and HIV infection. Methods: Analysis of data abstracted from electronic medical records of all in-patient admissions and out-patient visits during January-July 2003. Results: Over the 7-month period, patients made 101,388 visits to the hospital. Of these, 43.8% involved services for HIV-infected patients. Females comprised 36.2% (N=17,368) of all visits for HIV-infected patients; constituting a similar proportion of patients not diagnosed as HIV-infected. The mean age of HIV-infected women was 28.3 years compared to 32.8 years among men (p<0.01). Of these HIV-infected women, 53.8% were self-described housewives, while another 29.3% were self-described farmers and fisherpersons. HIV-infected women were significantly less likely to be admitted than HIV-infected men (OR = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.53-0.61). More than one-third (38.7%) of the HIV-infected female patients resided outside the State of Tamilnadu. On average, HIV-infected female patients made 3.7 visits (median=3; range: 1-13). Conclusions: At this specialty hospital, female patients comprise a substantial group of patients seeking HIV care and support services, traveling great distances for multiple visits. Care and support services designed to meet the needs of female HIV patients should be developed and monitored to ensure improvements in access to care.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Female
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Health Services Accessibility
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• Humans
• India
• Male
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care
• Patient Admission
• Patient Compliance
• Prostitution
• Tuberculosis

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0033277

UI: 102277493

From Meeting Abstracts