Prevalence and Forms of Intimate Partner Violence among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an aberrant behavior that occurs within an intimate relationship resulting in physical, sexual, and psychological harm to a partner. It transcends all strata of the society including socio-cultural groups, families and the community as a whole. Amongst people diagnosed with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), IPV could have adverse health consequences and this could have serious implications for disease progression, transmission and control. This study was therefore aimed at assessing the knowledge, prevalence and forms of IPV against people with HIV/AIDS in Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to recruit a total of 330 respondents which comprised adult male and female HIV/AIDS patients receiving comprehensive health care services in selected health facilities in Sokoto metropolis. Data on knowledge, prevalence and forms of IPV was elicited using a set of semi-structured interviewer- administered questionnaire downloaded into Open Data Kit (ODK). Data collected was entered into and analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 25 with level of statistical significance set at p<0.05.

Results: More than two-thirds, 259 (78.5%) of the respondents were diagnosed with HIV within the last one to ten years with almost all, 323(97.9%) having good knowledge of IPV. Only 28 (8.5%) of the respondents experienced at least one form of IPV with more females (9.5%) compared to 4.5% of males experiencing IPV. The various forms of IPV experienced by the respondents included sexual (4.2%), physical (6.7%) and psychological (8.5%).

Conclusion: Although almost all the respondents were knowledgeable about IPV, only a few of them experienced one form of IPV or the other. This has wider public health implications for interventions and underscores the need to initiate IPV screening among people living with HIV, improved awareness of IPV and supportive in care services and counseling aimed at better clinical outcomes amongst PLWHA.