Fertility desire and associated factors among people on antiretroviral treatment at a public health facility in Hawassa city, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Fertility desire is the plan of people to have a child or more children in the face of being diagnosed with HIV and plan to a commitment to implement the desire. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Hawassa city public health facilities from May 09 –July 07/07/2019. Four hundred (400) study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected by using interviewer-administered pre-tested structured questionnaires and chart review. The collected data were entered into EPI data version 3.1 software and then transported to SPSS version 20 for cleaning and data analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors at p<0.05 was taken as a significant value with a 95% confidence level. Results: A total of 400 clients were included in the study giving a response rate of 97 %. The overall fertility desire was 53.6 %(95%CI: 48.7%, 58.2%). Age, sexual practice in the last six months and discussing reproductive health with ART providers were significantly associated with fertility desire. Younger age was positively associated with fertility desire, age group (18-29), [Adjust odds ratio = 5.75 95%CI (2.85, 11.57)] , age group(30-39), [Adjust odds ratio= 4.71 95%CI:(2.55, 8.71)] Sexual practice in the last sixmonths [Adjust odds ratio = 3.00 95%CI(1.46 , 6.16)] and counseling reproductive health with ART provider[Adjust odds ratio = 3.10 95%CI:(1.86,5.15)] Conclusion: The prevalence of fertility desire in this study was higher than previous studies while factors associated with fertility desire were age, sexual practice in the last six months, and discussing reproductive health with ART providers. Keywords: ART; Fertility desire; HIV/AIDS.