Awareness of HIV-positive status and linkage to treatment prior to pregnancy in the “test and treat” era: A national antenatal sentinel survey, 2017, South Africa

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge of HIV status in South Africa (SA) is reported to be 90% among people living with HIV. National level estimates could mask population-specific levels, which are critical to monitor program coverage and potential impact. Using data from the 2017 national antenatal sentinel survey, we assessed knowledge of HIV-positive status, initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and socio-demographic characteristics associated with knowledge of HIV-positive status prior to the current pregnancy among women attending antenatal care. METHODS: Between 1 October and 15 November 2017, a nationally representative sample of 32,716 pregnant women were enrolled from 1,595 public health facilities selected from all districts of SA. Data on age, gravidity, knowledge of HIV-positive status and ART initiation prior to pregnancy were extracted from medical records. A blood sample was collected from each woman regardless of prior knowledge of HIV status or ART history, and tested for HIV in the laboratory. All HIV-positive pregnant women enrolled in the survey were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. Multivariable survey logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with knowledge of HIV-positive status prior to the current pregnancy. RESULTS: Of 10,065 eligible HIV-positive women, 60.8% (95% confidence interval (CI):59.9%–61.7%) knew their HIV status prior to the current pregnancy, of whom 91.1% (95% CI: 90.4%–91.7%) initiated ART prior to the current pregnancy. Knowledge of HIV-positive status was lower among adolescent girls and young women (15–24 years) (38.9%) and primigravid women (40.5%) compared with older women (35–49 years) (75.5%) and multigravid women (64.7%). In a multivariable analysis, significant effect modification was found between gravidity and age (P value = 0.047). Being in the age group 15–24 years compared to the age group 35–49 years decreased the odds of knowing HIV-positive status by 80% (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.2, 95% CI:0.1–0.4) among primigravid women and by 60%(AOR: 0.4, 95% CI:0.3–0.4) among multigravid women. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of HIV-positive status prior to the current pregnancy fell short of the target of 90% among pregnant women living with HIV. This was especially low among adolescent girls and young women, highlighting the gap in youth friendly reproductive health and HIV testing services.