Evaluation of prenatal care for syphilis and HIV detection in pregnant women attended in a rural area of Pará State, Brazil

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate the prenatal care provided for syphilis and HIV infection to pregnant women attending a Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família) in Ananindeua, Pará State, Brazil, in 2015, verifying their profile and the prevalence of these diseases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A retrospective, observational, and cross-sectional study was conducted with medical records of 41 pregnant women who completed prenatal care in 2015.

RESULTS:

The majority of the pregnant women were between 20-29 years age (56.10%), married (78.05%), with no income (92.68%), and had complete primary education (43.90%), with history of previous births (65.85%) and six or more prenatal consultations (73.17%). Most of them performed at least one screening test for syphilis (97.56%) and HIV (95.12%) during prenatal care. Of those who performed the tests, only 31.71% repeated the exams for syphilis in the first and third trimester, and 29.27% repeated the tests for HIV, as recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. No cases of syphilis were identified and the prevalence of HIV infection was 2.44%.

CONCLUSION:

Factors such as low schooling, lack of paid work and multiparity were relevant. Low adherence to second syphilis and HIV tests during pregnancy is worrisome because identifies prenatal failures and may suggest an increase in the prevalence of HIV infection in the region. It is imperative to improve the quality of prenatal care for syphilis and HIV infection tests, in order to prevent the vertical transmission of these diseases.