Non-Disclosure of HIV-Positive Serostatus: Unmatched Case–Control Study in People Living with HIV in Public Health Facilities of Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Non-disclosure of HIV-positive status (NDHPSS) is the individual’s experience of hiding their HIV status from other people or groups. People who fail to reveal their HIV-positive serostatus risk contracting the virus again, not receiving the best possible care, and even dying. PURPOSE: To assess predictors of NDHPSS in people living with HIV in public health facilities in Gedeo-Zone, Southern-Ethiopia. METHODS: In Gedeo-Zone, Southern Ethiopia, a facility-based, unmatched, case–control study was carried out from the first of February to March 30, 2022GC. With a case-to-control ratio of 1:1, a total of 360 respondents (89 cases and 271 controls) were involved. The respondents were chosen using a sequential sampling technique. EpiData-V-3.1 was used to enter the data, and SPSS-V-25 was used to analyse it. To determine the factors that were connected to the result, a binary logistic regression analysis was performed. AOR at the 95% confidence interval and p-values under 0.05 were utilised to explain their statistical significance. RESULTS: The study had 360 participants in total—271 controls and 89 cases—resulting in a response rate of 97.6%. The average age of the participants was 35.6 years (SD: 8.3). After adjusting the possible confounders, sex (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.04–7.56), residence (AORs = 3.52, 95% CI: 2.83–9.39), WHO clinical stage I (AORs = 4.68, 95% CI: 1.9–22.1), short duration of ART follow-up care (AOR = 4.21, 95% CI: 1.65–10.73), and number of lifetime sexual partners (AOR = 6.9, 95% CI: 1.86–26.3) were significantly associated factors with the outcome. CONCLUSION: According to this study, living in a rural area and being in WHO clinical stage one, in addition to being a woman and having multiple sexual partners during one’s lifetime, were predictors of non-disclosure of an HIV-positive serostatus. As a result, encouraging people with HIV in WHO stage I and those who have had more than one sexual partner in their lifetime to disclose their status and expanding counselling services for rural residents and women have a substantial impact on reducing the HIV load.