Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria

A Logistic Regression Approach

Abstract

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV is the predominant mode of HIV infection among children, occurring during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Without any intervention, the likelihood of HIV transmission from an infected mother to her child ranges between 15% to 45%  This study aims to determine the significant socio-economic factors that influence the prevention of MTCT of HIV in Nigeria. Data were collected from a sample of 15,284 women, aged 15-49, across 36 states, from a total population of 41,821. Key variables analyzed include condom use, HIV incidence, educational status, occupation, and means of transportation, employment status, literacy, income status, and the practice of limiting sexual intercourse to one uninfected partner. This research focused on a subset of variables: literacy, condom use, and limiting sexual intercourse to one uninfected partner. The logistic regression model, along with the Wald test and goodness-of-fit test, was employed to assess the impact of these factors on MTCT of HIV. The assumptions of the logistic regression model—such as appropriate outcome structure, observation independence, absence of multicollinearity, linearity of independent variables and log odds, and a large sample size—were tested and found to be valid. The results indicate a significant relationship between the selected socio-economic factors and the prevention of MTCT of HIV in Nigeria. It is concluded that these factors play a crucial role in reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria.