Modern contraceptive use among HIV-infected women attending HIV care centres in Togo: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Contraceptive use among HIV-infected women in Togo is poorly documented. We aim at assessing the prevalence of modern contraceptive use and associated factors among HIV-infected women in Togo. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The study was conducted in five HIV care centres in the Centrale and Kara regions in Togo. PARTICIPANTS: We included 461 HIV-positive women aged between 15 and 49 years and who were sexually active. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome variable was HIV-infected women who were using modern contraceptive methods. RESULTS: A total of 461 HIV-infected women were interviewed, with an average age of 34.3 (±7.1). Among them, 332 (73.1%) women reported using contraceptive methods, mostly condom alone (74.7%) or in combination with hormonal contraceptive (16.9%). In multivariate analysis, education level (primary: adjusted OR (aOR)=1.99, 95% CI (1.05 to 3.76); secondary level and higher: aOR=3.95, 95% CI (2.03 to 7.67)), WHO clinical stage (stage II: aOR=0.7, 95% CI (0.37 to 1.33)), follow-up in private care facilities (aOR=2.54, 95% CI (1.22 to 5.29)) and having a child (aOR=2.51, 95% CI (1.41 to 4.5)) were associated with higher contraceptive use, while marital status (living in union: aOR=0.45, 95% CI (0.28 to 0.74)) and WHO stages III and IV (aOR=0.47, 95% CI (0.24 to 0.94)) were associated with lower contraceptive use. CONCLUSION: About three-quarters of sexually active HIV-infected women in Togo were using contraceptive methods, and private health facilities favoured this contraceptive use. It is important to strengthen the implementation of interventions to increase the incentives for HIV-infected women to use contraception in Togo.