Original Research

Why do women not return for CD4 count results at Embhuleni Hospital, Mpumalanga, South Africa?

Doudou K. Nzaumvila, Langalibalele H. Mabuza
Curationis | Vol 38, No 1 | a1266 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v38i1.1266 | © 2015 Doudou K. Nzaumvila, Langalibalele H. Mabuza | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 11 January 2014 | Published: 26 June 2015

About the author(s)

Doudou K. Nzaumvila, Family Physician, Odi District Hospital, South Africa
Langalibalele H. Mabuza, Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus, South Africa

Abstract

Background: According to the South African Policy and guidelines for the implementation of the PMTCT programme of 2008, all pregnant women who tested HIV-positive also had to have their CD4 count measured in order to inform the option of Prevention of Mother-to-ChildTreatment (PMTCT): to be put on lifelong treatment or to be placed on temporary PMTCT. They were required to return for the results within two weeks, but some did not return, implying that they did not benefit from the programme. This study was conducted to establish their reasons for not returning.

Objectives: To explore the reasons given by women attending antenatal care for not returning for the results of their CD4 count done for PMTCT at Embhuleni Hospital and satellite clinics, Mpumalanga.

Methods: The study was a qualitative study using the free-attitude interview technique. Women who had not returned for their results were traced and interviewed on their reasons for not returning. Interviews were conducted in Siswati, audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and translated into English for analysis. Data saturation was reached by the eighth participant. A thematic analysis was conducted.

Results: The themes that emerged were: participants were not informed about the PMTCTprocess; poor service delivery from the healthcare practitioners; unprofessional healthcare practitioners’ conduct; shortages of medication in the healthcare facilities; fear of social stigma; and poor patient socioeconomic conditions.

Conclusion: The reasons for not returning were mainly based on participants’ experiences during consultations at the healthcare centres and their perceptions of the healthcare practitioners. Healthcare practitioners should adhere to the tenets of professionalism in order to address this problem.


Keywords

Women attending ante-natal care; CD4 count results; non-return; PMTCT process

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Crossref Citations

1. Social concerns related to HIV status disclosure and participation in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV care among pregnant women in Kenya
Björn Nordberg, Erin E. Gabriel, Edwin Were, Eunice Kaguiri, Anna Mia Ekström, Anna Kågesten, Susanne Rautiainen
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth  vol: 20  issue: 1  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1186/s12884-020-02907-x