Loss to Follow-Up Among HIV-Exposed Children in an HIV Clinic in Beira, Mozambique

Ana Judith Blanco, Mark A. Micek, Lisa M. Frenkel, Pablo Montoya, Marina Karagianis, Laurinda Matunha, Wendy Johnson, Stephen Gloyd and James Pfeiffer

SAGE Open, 2015, vol. 5, issue 3, 2158244015590841

Abstract: Loss to follow-up contributes to the low coverage of HIV care interventions among HIV-exposed infants in Beira, Mozambique. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of HIV-infected women and their health care providers regarding the main obstacles preventing women from attending follow-up visits for HIV care, and factors influencing women’s decisions about newborn care. Fifty-two in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted; transcripts were coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Interviewees perceived three major barriers to follow-up: food insecurity, difficulties navigating the health system, and women’s familial roles and responsibilities. Our findings unveil the complex context in which HIV-infected women and their children live, and suggest that the structure and function of the HIV care system should be reviewed. Economic empowerment of women is crucial to achieving better compliance with medical care. Integration of mother and child services and more efficient and culturally sensitive medical services may improve follow-up.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; loss to follow-up; adherence; HIV care; access barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244015590841 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:3:p:2158244015590841

DOI: 10.1177/2158244015590841

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in SAGE Open
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().