Nutritional status and associated factors among people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana: cross-sectional study of highly active antiretroviral therapy clients

BMC Nutrition

Farrukh Ishaque Saah¹  Beauty Mawuenam Nanewortor²  Prince Kubi Appiah²  Hubert Amu³  Kwaku Kissah-Korsah⁴ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana;Department of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana;Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana;Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana;

关键词: Ghana;    HIV/AIDS;    Nutritional status;    People living with HIV/AIDS;    Nutritional knowledge;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40795-021-00418-2

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNutrition among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is essential in their care and management as it has implication for their immune function. We examined the nutritional status and associated factors among HIV positive clients accessing Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) at a public hospital in Ghana.MethodsThis was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 152 clients. Anthropometric measurements for weight and height were carried out in 2019. Data were analysed using SPSS 22.0. Descriptive and analytical statistics comprising frequency, percentage, and binary logistic regression were adopted in presenting the results.ResultsSeventy-nine percent and 74% of the clients had good nutrition knowledge and attitude, respectively. Also, 42% were malnourished (underweight = 13.8%, and overweight = 28.3%). Clients with primary (AOR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.07–1.84), JSS/JHS (AOR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.08–0.84), SSS/SHS (AOR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.05–1.02) and tertiary (AOR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.08–0.88) were less likely to be malnourished compared with those with no formal education. Those with good nutrition-related knowledge were 56% (AOR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.18–1.09) less likely to be malnourished than those with poor knowledge; this was however, not statistically significant.ConclusionWe found a high prevalence of malnutrition among the clients which militates against progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal targets 3.3 and 3.4 of stopping AIDS epidemic and preventing premature deaths from malnutrition. Our findings justify the need for the implementation of innovative interventions by stakeholders in Ghana’s health industry to improve the nutritional status of people living with the disease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY