Factors Associated with Abdominal Obesity among HIV-infected Adults on Antiretroviral Therapy in Malaysia

Abstract

Abdominal or central obesity is a common morphological alteration among HIV-infected subjects on antiretroviral treatment. There is concern that this condition places the subjects at risk of cardiovascular disease. This is a cross-sectional study of 334, HIV-infected adult subjects on antiretroviral therapy at a public hospital in Malaysia. It was aimed at determining the association between nutritional factors and abdominal obesity among PLHIV receiving antiretroviral treatment. Abdominal obesity was prevalent in 36.5% of the respondents. Respondents with abdominal obesity were significantly (p<0.05) older in age, had significantly higher blood triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, lower HDL-cholesterol, higher BMI at the start of medication and also at the time of the study, bigger waist circumference, higher waist hip ratio, body fat mass, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. They also had lower mean CD4 cell count at start of medication and body lean mass than those without abdominal obesity. After adjusting for the covariates, a significantly higher risk of abdominal obesity was observed in those who were older (adjusted OR=1.053, CI=1.012-1.095), had higher fasting plasma glucose (adjusted OR=1.189, CI=1.014-1.394), higher BMI at the time of study (adjusted OR=1.426,. Being Malay was a protective factor (adjusted OR=0.264, CI=00.102-0.685) for abdominal obesity. These results suggest that care of the HIV-infected population must include intervention to address abdominal obesity in order to provide better quality of life.

Body Composition of Adults Living with HIV in Two Cities in Ghana

“…A high proportion of participants in the present study have developed abdominal obesity. This mirrors findings reported elsewhere [21][22]. The trend predisposes participants in the present study to cardiometabolic complications [23] in addition to the known health complications associated with the infection.…”

Gender Differences in Adverse Drug Reactions during HAART Therapy in HIV/AIDS Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital Penang, Malaysia

“…Majority of the male patients (62.8%) that had experienced ADRs were unemployed and 54.1% of female patients are housewives. This result is supported by the previous study conducted in Uganda [10] which is in contrast with the study conducted in Malaysia [25].…”

Overweight and abdominal obesity in adults living with HIV/AIDS

“…In this study the association between abdominal obesity and the female gender was maintained after multivariate analysis, which is in accordance with the research literature on PLWHA. 7,9,23 As for overweight, there was no association with females, unlike another two studies on PLWHA. 6,26 In the Brazilian population, however, the prevalence of overweight is very similar among both men and women.…”

“…22 The association between abdominal obesity and advanced age has been found in other studies with PLWHA. 8,9,23,26 The highest frequency of overweight in categories of more advanced ages was also found in the Brazilian population. 20 In this study, abdominal obesity was associated with higher income.…”

“…7,22,23 A study that evaluated patients treated with HAART or otherwise found a prevalence of abdominal obesity of 17.0%. 24 This type of obesity, characterized by the accumulation of fat in the abdominal region, is recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome, 25 and monitoring the metabolic profile of patients with abdominal obesity is important to control cardiometabolic risks and prevent other diseases.…”