Prevalence and Predictors of Willingness to Care for Relatives Living with HIV/AIDS among Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria

The number of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Nigeria is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Escalating number of PLWHA in Nigeria demands for more number of caregivers. The information on perception of women on Willingness to Give Care (WGC) to PLWHA is insufficient in Nigeria, hence this study. The study utilized NDHS 2008 dataset with focus on women aged 15-49(n=27,195). Analysis was done using Chi-square and logistic regression models. Mean age of the women was 28.79±9.4years. The prevalence of women who were WGC to PLWHA was 65.4% with urban women (70.8%) WGC to PLWHA than their rural counterparts (61.9%;p<0.05). WGC to PLWHA increases with increasing level of education (p<0.05). The higher the level of wealth index, the higher the percentage of women who were WGC to PLWHA. Women who knew someone who had died of HIV/AIDS (82.8%) were WGC than those who did not (62.8%;p<0.05). Female youths (15-24 years) were more likely (OR=1.1,C.I=1.07-1.23) not Willing to Give Care (NWGC) to PLWHA than older women. Agreeing that PLWHA should be ashamed of themselves (OR=2.8,C.I=2.60-2.90) inhibits NWGC to PLWHA than disagreeing. The odds of NWGC to PLWHA was strikingly lower among women residing in the Northern Nigeria (OR=0.30,C.I=0.28-0.33) than South.