Context: This paper examined the clustering of pregnancy wastage among
HIV-infected pregnant women, particularly focusing on the outcomes of abortions
and stillbirths, from a large sample of HIV-positive women to bridge the
existing information gap. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional survey conducted
among currently married HIV positive women aged 15-29 years in
Bagalkot district, Karnataka, India were used. Further to assess the clustering of
pregnancy wastage, the binomial distribution was used. Results: The study
shows that 2% of the women account for 32% of the total pregnancy wastages
and 7% of all the interviewed HIV positive women account for 62% of the total
pregnancy wastages. The study further shows that a higher percent observed
(29.6%) than expected (15.5%) who had experienced 2 pregnancy wastages
suggesting 14.1% more women experienced 2 pregnancy wastages than
expected. Again, a positive deviant of 19.2 among women with at least 3 pregnancy
wastage also suggests a higher observed than expected pregnancy wastages,
and suggests clustering of pregnancy wastages among HIV-positive women.
After adjusting for the socio-economic characteristics, the variance of the
observed and expected has reduced only marginally. Conclusions: Clustering
of pregnancy wastages among HIV positive women suggests for an increased
attention on reproductive health of this marginalized group. The findings will
be useful for the interventions working with WLHA in India, particularly the
knowledge of clustering would help policy makers and program implementers
to focus on high risk women who are likely to experience multiple pregnancy
losses.
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