Fatores associados ao desejo de ter filhos entre mulheres vivendo com HIV/AIDS no Ceará - Brasil

Abstract

To study the factors associated with the desire to have children in asymptomatic HIV+ women and those living with AIDS in a referral hospital for infectious diseases in Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 225 women aged between 18 and 49, who were attended in the AIDS out-patients of the aforementioned hospital in the months of July and August 2004 and answered a semi-structured questionnaire. A logistic regression model was used to model the dichotomy of the variable "would like to have a child / another child".The average age of the women was 32. 78% have children and 40% would like to have a/another child. Age (OR: 0.93; 0195%: 0.89-0.98), to have a child/children (OR: 2.13; CI95%: 1.03-4.39), the partner's desire for children (OR:2.64; C195%: 1.32-5.29) and sex against the woman's consent (OR:2.36; C195%: 1.26-4.43) were the factors positively associated with the women's desire for children. Whereas the level of schooling, income, their clinical condition, the time they have known they are HIV+, their sorological condition and their financial dependence on their partner did not appear significant. Other factors, such as the woman's age and the number of children she already has, together with the partner's desire to have children are the most important factors associated with the reproductive desire of womeh infected with the vii-us in Ceará, therefore, to treat reproductive issues as merely a biological problem and ignoring psychoeocial and cultural influerices will not promote informed biological decisions.