Characteristics of clients seeking voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services in Nairobi, Kenya

Tom M. Olewe*, John O. Wanyungu** and Anthony M. Makau***

*Vision Integrity & Passion to Serve (VIPS) Health Services at Woodley, P. O BOX 8238 – 00200, Nairobi, Kenya; ** Monitoring Evaluation and Research Unit, National AIDS/STD, TB and Leprosy Control Programme, Ministry of Health, P.O Box 19361-00202, Nairobi, Kenya; *** Kampala International University (KIU), Western Campus, P.O. Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda.

Corresponding author e–mail:tolewe@vipskenya.or.ke

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the characteristics of clients seeking VCT services in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methodology and results: Convenient sample of 418 client data forms were analyzed. Rapid HIV test kits were used to determine serostatus of 99.8% of the clients, with 10.8% (N = 418) found positive. Female clients were 65.9% (n = 44) of those positive. Most clients (84.2%, N = 418) were age group 15 - 34 years. Modal seropositive age groups were 20 – 24 and 30 – 34 years (20%, N = 408). Skilled (22.2%, N = 408) and professional (28.9%) workers had higher seropositivity. A higher proportion of clients with more than secondary school level of education were seropositive (42.2%, N = 402) as were those in monogamous (36.4%, N = 406) followed by the non-married (27.3%, N = 406) relationships. There was a weak but significant association between education and serostatus (p = 0.04). Unmarried clients were more likely to be seronegative compared to those married, however the association was not statistically significant (p = 0.06). Male clients were more likely to use condoms inconsistently with both steady (X2 = 2.35, OR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.34 – 0.88, p = 0.22) and unsteady (X2 = 4.07, OR = 0.51, 95%CI = 0.26 – 0.98, p = 0.16) partners than female clients; however the associations were not significant.
Conclusion and application of findings: HIV/AIDS remains the greatest challenge to development in Kenya and VCT is a key intervention measure within the comprehensive care programme. While significant progress has been made in developing monitoring and evaluation systems in health care in Kenya, the challenges persist regarding collection of data that is required for planning. Using VCT data from a site in Nairobi, this study shows the relevance of data collection and analysis, demonstrating that knowledge of the characteristics of VCT clients is critical in bridging the gap between availability of VCT services and its uptake. Ultimate victory against HIV/AIDS will depend on Kenyans knowing their serostatus and utilizing the comprehensive care programmes available.

Key words

HIV/AIDS, VCT, Kenya

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