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Background: Globally, over 40 million lives have been claimed by HIV/AIDS. In Ghana, more than 350,000 people are living with HIV. Non-disclosure of HIV status is a major barrier to HIV/AIDS eradication; yet, little is known of the determinants of HIV status disclosure in resource limited settings in Africa like Ghana. Objective: Determine the predictors of HIV status disclosure among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and stimulate policy discourse on support systems for self-disclosure in Africa. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study among PLHIV (n = 181) in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically the Volta region of Ghana. Bivariate probit regression was run to determine factors associated with HIV status disclosure among PLHIV. Results: HIV status self-disclosure was reported by 50% of the respondents; nearly 65% disclosed their status to non-family members and non-partners. Significant correlates of HIV status disclosure either to partners or non-partners were marital status, monthly income, type of occupation, and being divorced due to HIV status (p < 0.05). Conclusions: HIV status disclosure remains low in Ghana like many African countries. There is the need for a renewed policy debate on tailored guidelines for HIV status self-disclosure and targeted support systems for PLHIV to ameliorate their predicaments and promote eradication of the epidemic in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor adherence and under-utilization of antiretroviral therapy (ART) services have been major setbacks to achieving 95-95-95 policy goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Social support and mental health challenges may serve as barriers to accessing and adhering to ART but are under-studied in low-income countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of interpersonal support and depression scores with adherence to ART among persons living with HIV (PLWH) in the Volta region of Ghana. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 181 PLWH 18 years or older who receive care at an ART clinic between November 2021 and March 2022. The questionnaire included a 6-item simplified ART adherence scale, the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the 12-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 (ISEL-12). We first used a chi-squared or Fisher's exact test to assess the association between these and additional demographic variables with ART adherence status. We then built a stepwise multivariable logistic regression model to explain ART adherence. Results: ART adherence was 34%. The threshold for depression was met by 23% of participants, but it was not significantly associated with adherence in multivariate analysis(p = 0.25). High social support was reported by 48.1%, and associated with adherence (p = 0.033, aOR = 3.45, 95% CI = 1.09–5.88). Other factors associated with adherence included in the multivariable model included not disclosing HIV status (p = 0.044, aOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.03–4.54) and not living in an urban area (p = 0.00037, aOR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.11–0.52). Conclusion: Interpersonal support, rural residence, and not disclosing HIV status were independent predictors of adherence to ART in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]