Voluntary counseling and HIV testing for pregnant women in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana: Is couple counseling the way forward?

This study reports the results of a cross-sectional questionnaire survey undertaken in the Kassena-Nankana district of Ghana to assess the perception and attitude of 270 antenatal clinic attendants towards voluntary counseling and HIV testing. It was found that although 92.6% (95% CI 88.8-95.4) of respondents indicated a willingness to get tested, only 51% (95% CI 45.0-57.2) considered HIV testing for pregnant women to be useful. Most (93.6%) indicated they would like their husbands (partners) to know the result of the test and 52.2% indicated that their husbands would be willing to accompany them to antenatal clinic (ANC) at least once during the pregnancy. The perception of the usefulness of HIV testing (OR=8.5, 95% CI 1.8-40.0), the willingness to disclose test result to the husband (OR=13.3, 95% CI 4.0-44.5) and perceived willingness of husband to accompany wife to antenatal clinic (OR=5.2, 95% CI 1.4-19.8) were found to be independent predictors of a woman's willingness to get tested. The willingness to disclose test result to husband (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.1-10.5) and knowledge of at least one mode of MTCT HIV transmission (OR=2.1, 95% CI 1.2-3.6) were found to be independent predictors of a woman's perception that getting tested was useful. The results suggest that for pregnant women in this district, the willingness to get tested for HIV does not equate with the perception of the test's usefulness, and that spouses are likely to exert strong influence on the attitude of pregnant women towards VCT. Couple counseling facilitated through couple-friendly ANC services should be explored as strategy for the intended VCT program in this district.