Nutritional status and associated factors among adult on Antiretro-viral therapy in Gamo zone public health facilities, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional status is continuing a major public health concern in low income countries. Now a day, sub-Saharan African countries are facing double burden of malnutrition. There are evidences on underweight among general population, but limited evidences on overweight/obesity among people living with HIV. Thus, this study is designed to assess nutritional status and associated factors among adult on antiretroviral therapy. Objective: To assess nutritional status and associated factors among adults on antiretroviral therapy in Gamo zone public health facilities, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 10 to April 10, 2022, among systematically selected 414 adults on antiretroviral therapy. The data were collected by using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, patient record review, and physical measurements. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to assess the association between dependent and independent variables. A p-value < 0.05 with its 95% CI was considered as a statistically significant and interpreted accordingly. Results: The magnitude of Underweight and Overweight/Obese were 28.3% (95% CI: 24.0-32.9)) and 13.3% (95% CI: 10.2–17.0)) respectively. Divorced (AOR = 3.71(1.345–7.496)), not finishing CPT (AOR = 2.96(1.41–6.231)), taking < 5 food groups (AOR = 2.87(1.574–5.266)), food insecure (AOR = 2.69(1.163–6.234)), and chewing khat (AOR = 2.78(1.09–7.114)) were significantly associated with underweight as compared to normal. Whereas, drinking alcohol (AOR = 1.61(1.09–3.61)), and monthly income of < 2000 ETB (AOR = 0.33(0.115–0.954)) were significantly associated with overweight/obese as compared to normal among adults on antiretroviral therapy. Conclusion: The magnitude of underweight among adult on Antiretro viral therapy is higher and magnitude of overweight/obese among adult on Antiretro viral therapy is lower as compared from most of the previous studies. Divorce, taking < 5 food groups, food insecured and chewing khat were factors for underweight, and income and alcohol drinking were factors for overweight/obese. Therefore, this finding shows the need to implement nutritional supplement and health education to improve the nutritional status of adults living with HIV in the study area.

Khat consumption and undernutrition among adult population in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The limited number of studies examining the link between khat chewing and undernutrition have yielded mixed findings, ranging from suggestions of adverse nutritional effects to reports of no significant association [15][16][17][18][19][20]. These conflicting results highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of the existing evidence.…”