Factors affecting intention to disclose HIV status among adult population in Sarawak, Malaysia

Background: Disclosure of HIV-positive status is an essential prerequisite for the prevention and care of person living with HIV/AIDS as well as to tackle hidden epidemic in the society.

Objective: To determine the intention to disclose the HIV/AIDS status among adult population in Sarawak, Malaysia, and factors affecting thereof.

Methods: This cross-sectional community-based study was conducted among adult population aged 18 years and above in Sarawak, Malaysia. A gender-stratified multistage cluster sampling technique was adopted to select the participants. A total of 900 respondents were successfully interviewed by face-to-face interview using interview schedule. Stepwise binary logistic regression models were fitted in SPSS version 22.0 to identify the factors associated with the disclosure of HIV/AIDS status. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The mean (SD) age of male and female respondents was 41.57 (13.45) and 38.99 (13.09) years, respectively. A statistically significant difference of intention to disclosure of HIV status was found between males and females (p < 0.05). A stepwise binary logistic regression analysis revealed that age, occupation, knowledge on HIV transmission, and content of discussion about HIV/AIDS appeared to be potential predictors for male respondents to disclose HIV status, while ethnicity and content of discussion on HIV/AIDS were found to be important predictors among the female respondents (p < 0.05).

Conclusion and Recommendation: Though the study did not depict the national prevalence of disclosure of HIV/AIDS status, the findings of the study would provide an important basic information for programme intervention, policy, and future research agenda.