Experience of fatigue and associated factors among adult people living with HIV attending ART clinic: a hospital-based cross-sectional study in Ethiopia

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of fatigue and the factors associated among adult people living with HIV attending antiretroviral therapy clinic in Gondar town, Ethiopia.DesignCross-sectional.SettingGovernmental health facility that provides HIV care in Gondar town.Outcome measureFatigue is defined by nine items version Fatigue Severity Scale.ParticipantsAdult (aged 18 and above) people living with HIV in Gondar town (n=392).ResultA total of 408 HIV seropositive adults were approached for consent, among which 392 participants consented to participate in this study, with a response rate of 96.1%. The mean age of the participants was 40.5±8.5 years. The prevalence of HIV-related fatigue was 53.3% and about 66% of women living with HIV experienced fatigue. The factors associated with fatigue experience were; female gender (adjusted OR (AOR): 2.61, 95% CI 1.01 to 5.3), being married (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.9), low income (AOR: 7.1, 95% CI 4.6 to 22.15), unemployed (AOR: 2.79, 95% CI 1.19 to 9.84), parity (AOR: 4.87, 95% CI 2.18 to 17.9), being anaemic (AOR: 12.45, 95% CI 5.6 to 41.01), depression (AOR: 4.51, 95% CI 1.91 to 11.20), mild weight loss (AOR: 4.2 95% CI 2.56 to 13.9) and moderate weight loss (AOR: 5.1, 95% CI 1.85 to 16.12), respectively.ConclusionThe findings of this study revealed that experiencing fatigue is quite common among adult people living with HIV. It is important for the healthcare professionals and people living with HIV to understand; the possible causes of fatigue, remedies and ways to reclaim energy. The predisposing factors and complications that cause fatigue should be aggressively diagnosed and treated by the clinicians. Further qualitative studies exploring the reasons for experiencing HIV-related fatigue might help designing interventions.

Prevalence and predictors of fatigue among people living with HIV in Norway

“…Lastly, there was a strong relationship between living alone and fatigue. This relationship was also found in a recent study among adult PLHIV in Ethiopia (Baye et al, 2020), and in the general case, marriage is found to have a protective effect on health and survival (Zhu & Gu, 2010), which supports our finding.…”

“…Mental distress, trouble sleeping, body pain, multimorbidity, and living alone were significant predictors of fatigue. Nearly a third of the participants reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, which mirrors previous findings (Barroso et al, 2010;Barroso & Voss, 2013;Baye et al, 2020;Gebreyesus et al, 2020;Jong et al, 2010;Noh et al, 2012;Rodkjaer et al, 2010). Thus, it seems that identifying and treating depression are important when assessing fatigue treatment strategies.…”

“…While we found no independent association between fatigue and CD4 count, viral load, time since diagnosis, we concur with Gay et al (2011) who list the treatment of fatigue as a strategy to improve ART adherence. We note that there are conflicting results regarding the relationship between fatigue and advanced HIV disease, marked by measures such as clinical stage, CD4 count, and ART regiment (Baye et al, 2020;Gebreyesus et al, 2020), and encourage further research into these associations. Similar to our study, these are cross-sectional investigations that do not allow for causal inferences.…”

Fatigue and Physical Household Activity in People Living With Hiv

“…Проте дані про взаємозв'язок між втомою та кількістю Т-клітин CD4 +, вірусними навантаженнями ВІЛ та терапією АРТ суперечливі [11]. Деякі дослідники повідомляють про взаємозв'язок між високим рівнем вірусного навантаження ВІЛ, низьким рівнем вмісту Т-клітин CD4+ та підвищеною втомою, тоді як інші дослідники виявили, що втома є постійним симптомом незалежно від прогресування ВІЛ-інфекції або лікування [12]. На думку Barosso [13], втома тісно пов'язана з безсонням і порушенням фаз сну, характерних для ЛЖВ.…”

“…Отже, фактори, які впливають на втому у ЛЖВ, а також методи її лікування, корекції та реабілітації, залишаються невирішеними питаннями охорони здоров'я [14]. Продовжуються дослідження з метою виявлення біомаркерів та інших фізіологічних корелятів, пов'язаних із втомою у ЛЖВ [11,12,14].…”