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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 2(2)

Risk factors for HIV infection in a gynaeco–obstetric population in Vietnam — a case-control study

Thi Thu Ha Tran A B , Brian P. Mulhall B D , Petra Macaskill B and Thanh Quang Nguyen C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Haiphong Children’s Hospital, Haiphong, Vietnam.

B School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

C National AIDS Bureau of Vietnam, Ministry of Health Hanoi, Vietnam.

D Corresponding author. Email: brianm@health.usyd.edu.au

Sexual Health 2(2) 71-75 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH04034
Submitted: 26 August 2004  Accepted: 4 April 2005   Published: 16 June 2005

Abstract

Background: Vietnam has an emerging HIV epidemic, particularly in male drug injectors. Data on HIV infections in women in the general population, and their risk factors, are scanty. Methods: A case-control study was performed in a large gynaeco–obstetric hospital in Haiphong city in 1998–2001. The sample was 22000 attendees. The medical records of 58 HIV-seropositive cases were compared with 422 randomly chosen HIV-seronegative controls for potential risk factors. Results: A multivariate analysis found that HIV infection was associated with young age, past/current history of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and being unemployed. Patients aged 21–30 years were 10-fold less likely to be infected than women aged <20 years (OR 0.11, 95%CI 0.04–0.33). Women with a past/current history of STI had over 20 times the risk of those who did not (95% CI 6.7–62.3). Unemployed women had at least twice the risk of infection of any other occupational group. Conclusions: We have identified risk factors in women that have not been highlighted previously in Vietnam. Our study suggests that all antenatal women, especially those who are young or unemployed (or, with a current/past history of STI), should be offered free HIV tests, counselling and management.

Additional keywords : prevention of perinatal transmission, surveillance, STD, demography.


Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Richard Hillman, Sexually Transmitted Infections Research Centre, University of Sydney, and Dr Greg Dore, National Centre for HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, for constructive criticism of an early draft. They also thank Dr Graham Neilsen, Senior Technical Advisor, Family Health International Regional Office, Bangkok, for helpful discussions of a near final draft.


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