Abstract

Millions of people are living with and dying of HIV infection worldwide, and Nigeria is one of the Nations that is worst affected. Condom use during sexual contact is an interventional approach that prevents the transmission and/or acquisition of HIV infection. The study determined the awareness and extent of condom use during sexual contact among HIV-infected serodiscordant couples as well as the risk perception of acquiring HIV infection by the negative partners in two tertiary health Institutions in Sokoto metropolis. Descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted and the study was carried out from April to September 2023. A close-ended questionnaire was used for the data collection. The study comprises 98 study subjects. Their age was 39 ± 10 (Mean ± SD). Ninety-six-point nine percent (96.9 %) and 94.9 % of the study participants were aware of condom and its usefulness respectively. Twenty-four-point five percent (24.5 %) and 20.4 % consistently and never used condoms respectively, and some of the reasons for not using the condoms were desire for more children 5 (31.25) and refusal by the sexual partner 5 (31.25 %). Knowing the usefulness of the condoms and the tribe of the study participants were associated with condom usage (P< 0.001; 0.025 respectively). Seventy-three-point five percent (73.5 %) of the HIV-negative partners didn’t feel at risk of acquiring HIV infection. Even though the vast majority of the study participants were aware of the condom as well as its usefulness this didn’t translate into practice as less than a quarter of the study participants consistently used condoms during sexual contact. The majority of the HIV-negative partners didn’t feel at risk of acquiring HIV infection from their HIV-positive partners.

Key words: HIV-infection; Serodiscordant couples; Condom use; Risk perception; HIV Negative partners