Researchers conducted the present study to determine the unmet need for family planning among HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. Of those individuals, researchers performed further analysis on a subset of two hundred and six participants who did not desire more children. It did not use a highly effective contraception method.
The unmet need for effective family planning was much more significant in HIV-infected individuals compared to HIV-negative individuals. Females were more likely to report an unmet need compared to males. Other predictors of unmet demand for effective family planning were older age and single/cohabiting vs. being married. Being on antiretroviral therapy was not a predictor of having a lower unmet need for effective family planning methods.
The study concluded a high unmet need for effective family planning in HIV-positive study participants, which should be of concern. Results suggest that HIV-infected individuals do not want to use family planning or encounter barriers to accessing and utilizing family planning services. Family planning programs and HIV care and prevention services have to work together more effectively to create services conducive to clients from both programs.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/38/1/23
