Preventive Measures and Potential Risk Factors for Toxoplasmosis among ART Clients in Sunyani Municipality
Abstract
This current study looked at the risk factors and preventive measures among persons living with HIV who access ART care at the Sunyani Bono Regional Hospital. A cross-sectional study was used because it simultaneously assesses both outcome and exposure variables. 340 people out of the projected 5430 in the municipality were sampled. Convenience sampling was used to select currently well PLWHA attending the ART clinic in the Bono Regional Hospital for the study. The most prevalent potential risk factors identified were lack of purification of drinking water (88.5%), farming and gardening activities (42.9%), handling cat feces without personal protection (21.0%), not washing fruits before eating (3.1%), not washing vegetables before cooking (1.2%), and an unquantified consumption of undercooked meat. The preventive measures assessed were the use of co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) and antiretroviral therapy (ART), adherence to which was tested for their relationships with socio-demographic characteristics and challenges to adherence at the first four levels of the social-ecological model. Strong predictors of adherence were occupation and satisfaction with ARVs. However, in this study, no significant relationship was found with the multivariate analysis. Similarly, no significant relationship was identified between age and adherence to CPT at any stage of the analysis in this research study. It is recommended that clinicians who are involved in ART care encourage patients in all categories of occupations to make their treatment a priority since their health is vital to all other pursuits in their lives.
Keywords:
Toxoplasmosis
HIV
ART
preventive measures
Ghana
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