Sexual dysfunction and associated factors among HIV positive women attending ART in South Gondar Hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Female sexual dysfunction is one of the most common public health problems in developed and developing countries, however little is expressed and need medical care due to cultural barriers and female were shameful. Even though sexual dysfunction has harmful effects on women's life, little is known about the prevalence and its associated factors in this study area. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction and Associated Factors among human immunodeficiency virus positive Women attending on antiretroviral therapy in South Gondar Hospital, North West, Ethiopia. METHODS: Institutional based Cross-sectional study was conducted among 623 sexual active HIV Positive women. Participants in the sample size estimation process were chosen through a systematic sampling procedure and information was gathered through document review and interview methods. Then data were entered by Epi-data version 4.6.0.2 and exported to SPSS Version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables and figures were used to describe the study participants. Bi-variable logistic regression model, adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence level was used to show the strength of association. Variables with a p-value less than 0.05 in the multi-variable model were considered statistically significant. The necessary assumption of model fitness of the regression was checked by Hosmer Lemeshow test. RESULTS: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 58.8 % (95% CI: 54.8- 62.7). Age above 50 (AOR=3.16, 95% CI: 1.48, 6.72), Episiotomy (AOR=4.41, 95% CI: 2.51, 6.81), Medical disease (AOR=3.45, 95%CI: 1.79, 6.68), ART started duration ≥8 years ago (AOR=2.24, 95%CI: 1.38, 3.66) and Clinical stage of HIV (AOR=5.29, 95% CI: 3.13, 8.96) were associated with sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was high as compare to other previous studies. Sexual dysfunction was influenced by age, episiotomy, medical disease; antiretroviral therapy started duration and Clinical stage HIV. As a result recognizing female sexual dysfunction as a significant public health problem is essential.