ASSESSMENT OF HIV PREVALENCE AMONG FISTULA PATIENTS AND FACTORS AFFECTING OUTCOME OF FISTULA REPAIR AT BAHIRDAR HAMLIN FISTULA CENTER

Abstract

Although Women with fistula may be sexually active; HIV counseling is often not included in fistula treatment. There are very few studies looking at their associated medical conditions and other factors in relation with outcome of surgical repair of fistula Objective: The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of HIV among fistula patients and factors affecting outcome of fistula repair at Bahirdar Hamlin Fistula Center Methods: Institution based prospective cross sectional study design was conducted at Bahirdar Hamlin Fistula Center from June 2010 to October 2010, 206 patients were examined with vesicovaginal, Rectovaginal fistulas and no previous repair. Relevant data were collected from the patient and patient’s card for all who were volunteers to participate in the study. Bivarate and multivariate regression model were employed to verify the association between selected sociodemographic characteristics, HIV positive test result and outcomes of fistula repair. Result: The seroprevalence of HIV infection was 2.4%. Of all VVF operations, 170 (90.4 %) were successful (closed) and 18 (9.6 %) were failed (not closed). From 25 RVF cases, 22(88 %) were successful (closed) and 3(12%) were failed (not closed). In multivariate regression shows age from 25-34 of urinary fistula patients had a significant association with failed urinary fistula operation. (P-value <0.05) Conclusion and Recommendation: The initial repair of vesicovaginal fistulas has the highest probability of success and the failure rate of repair was related with age. The prevalence of HIV infection among fistula patients was2.4%, this is in line with the national HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending ANC clinics in rural area (2.5%) in 2007.