Sociodemographic Profile and Treatment-Seeking Behavior of HIV Infected Children Accessing Care at Pediatric ART Clinic of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi

摘要

Background: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has emerged as one of the most serious public health problems in India. The parents of HIV-infected children are more likely to die and thus renderthechildren orphan. The sociodemographic characteristics of children with HIV infection are different than the other children of the same age group. With the diverse range of manifestations, the symptoms of HIV/AIDS can appear in children at anytime during the course of infection. After appearance of various signs/symptoms, the parents wander to various health agencies for relief and thus lose their vital time. Aims: The present study was conducted (1) to study the sociodemographic profile of children living with HIV/AIDS and (2) to know the treatment-seeking behavior of HIV/AIDS patients before coming to the tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: The study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study where 216 children registered at the pediatric ART clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Delhi and their caregivers were included in the study. Semi-structured, pretested interview schedule was used for data collection through face-to-face interviews. Results: Out of the 216 children, males outnumbered females in the ratio of 2.48:1. Most of the children were in the age group of 10-14 years (48.1%) and the majority belonged to urban areas (63.4%). Most of the children were going to school. Majority of children (46.3%) belonged to social class-4. Hospitals (62.5%) were consulted first followed by private practitioners (33.3%) by these patients after appearance of earliest symptoms. Presenting symptoms of HIV in children were not specific and the most common symptom was fever (79.1%) followed by not gaining weight (69.4%), recurrent diarrhea (65.3%), cough (41.7%) and vomiting (30.6%). The average number of consultations sought by these patients before coming to this hospital was 2.34 per patients. Hospitals (39.8%) and prior experience at same hospital (33.3%) were the most common source of information about the ART center. Conclusion: The study shows multiple sources of consultation with delay in seeking care in the tertiary hospital.