Media exposure, behavioural risk factors and HIV testing among women of reproductive age in Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study

Adegboye, Oyelola A., Ezechukwu, Henry C., Woodall, Hannah, Brough, Megan, Robertson-Smith, Jodie, Paba, Rosella, Czech, Geraint, and Emeto, Theophilus I. (2022) Media exposure, behavioural risk factors and HIV testing among women of reproductive age in Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 7 (2). 30.

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DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed7020030

View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed70200...

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Abstract

Background: Reproductive health remains a major health concern in developing countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG). The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in PNG is the highest in the Southern Pacific region, with women having a higher risk of contracting the infection. Hence, there have been several policies aimed at mitigating the spread of the disease. One of these policies include the use of mass media as a health promotion tool to educate the population on the risk of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the association of mass media to HIV testing among women.

Methods: Data were obtained from the PNG Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2019. A total of 15,005 reproductive-age women was included in this analysis.

Results: The results showed that women with low (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.39, 1.90) and high (aOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.36, 1.72) media exposure were more likely to undertake HIV testing compared to those with no media exposure. Compared to no education, women with incomplete primary (aOR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.40), complete primary (aOR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.30, 1.87), incomplete secondary (aOR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.85, 2.58), complete secondary (aOR= 2.33, 95% CI: 1.77, 3.09) and higher (aOR = 3.38, 95% CI: 2.57, 4.46) education were more likely to undertake HIV testing. Compared to women with the poorest wealth index, women with richer indexes were more likely to undertake HIV testing. Women living in rural areas were less likely to undertake HIV testing (aOR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.82). However, marital status, knowledge of transmission and religion were not associated with HIV testing.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study provides strong evidence that mass media exposure increases the likelihood of HIV testing in women of reproductive age in PNG. Mass media campaigns would serve as a cost-effective health promotion tool against the spread of disease.


Item ID:	72562
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2414-6366
Keywords:	HIV; mass media; Papua New Guinea; knowledge; awareness
Copyright Information:	Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Date Deposited:	22 Feb 2022 03:53
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420603 Health promotion @ 30% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320211 Infectious diseases @ 35% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420207 Major global burdens of disease @ 35%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200203 Health education and promotion @ 30% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200509 Women's and maternal health @ 40% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200401 Behaviour and health @ 30%
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