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Published in: AIDS and Behavior 6/2018

01-06-2018 | Original Paper

Fertility Intentions, Pregnancy, and Use of PrEP and ART for Safer Conception Among East African HIV Serodiscordant Couples

Authors: Renee Heffron, Kerry Thomson, Connie Celum, Jessica Haberer, Kenneth Ngure, Nelly Mugo, Elizabeth Bukusi, Elly Katabira, Josephine Odoyo, Nulu Bulya, Stephen Asiimwe, Edna Tindimwebwa, Jared M. Baeten, Partners Demonstration Project Team

Published in: AIDS and Behavior | Issue 6/2018

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Abstract

African HIV serodiscordant couples often desire pregnancy, despite sexual HIV transmission risk during pregnancy attempts. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduce HIV risk and can be leveraged for safer conception but how well these strategies are used for safer conception is not known. We conducted an open-label demonstration project of the integrated delivery of PrEP and ART among 1013 HIV serodiscordant couples from Kenya and Uganda followed quarterly for 2 years. We evaluated fertility intentions, pregnancy incidence, the use of PrEP and ART during peri-conception, and peri-conception HIV incidence. At enrollment, 80% of couples indicated a desire for more children. Pregnancy incidence rates were 18.5 and 18.7 per 100 person years among HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected women, and higher among women who recently reported fertility intention (adjusted odds ratio 3.43, 95% CI 2.38–4.93) in multivariable GEE models. During the 6 months preceding pregnancy, 82.9% of couples used PrEP or ART and there were no HIV seroconversions. In this cohort with high pregnancy rates, integrated PrEP and ART was readily used by HIV serodiscordant couples, including during peri-conception periods. Widespread scale-up of safer conception counseling and services is warranted to respond to strong desires for pregnancy among HIV-affected men and women.
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Metadata
Title
Fertility Intentions, Pregnancy, and Use of PrEP and ART for Safer Conception Among East African HIV Serodiscordant Couples
Authors
Renee Heffron
Kerry Thomson
Connie Celum
Jessica Haberer
Kenneth Ngure
Nelly Mugo
Elizabeth Bukusi
Elly Katabira
Josephine Odoyo
Nulu Bulya
Stephen Asiimwe
Edna Tindimwebwa
Jared M. Baeten
Partners Demonstration Project Team
Publication date
01-06-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
AIDS and Behavior / Issue 6/2018
Print ISSN: 1090-7165
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3254
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1902-7

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