Prevalence, severity and associated risk factors of anemia among human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults in Sawla General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia: A facility-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Anemia is a significant public health problem in HIV/AIDS patients worldwide. This study is aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and its risk factors among HIV-infected adults in Sawla General Hospital, southern Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study involving HIV-infected adults was conducted in ART clinic of Sawla General Hospital from April 01 to May 31, 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to recruit the study participants. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire and checklist. Hemoglobin concentration from venous blood was determined by HemoCue® 301 analyzer. Descriptive and inferential statistics, by Statistical Package for Social Science version 26.0, were applied; p-values ≤ 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression analysis were considered statistically significant. Results A total of 220 HIV-infected adults participated in this study. The prevalence of anemia was 38.6%, from which 90.6, 7.1, and 2.3% are mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. Anemia among HIV-infected adults was significantly associated with CD4 cell count below 200 cells/mm3 (AOR: 4.32; 95% CI: 2.10–8.86), clinical stage III or above (AOR: 4.20; 95% CI: 1.06–16.62), five or more years duration of HIV infection (AOR: 2.32; 95% CI: 1.08–4.94) and BMI below 18.5 kg/m2 (AOR: 3.82; 95% CI: 1.83–8.00). Conclusion Anemia is a moderate public health problem among the study population. Longer duration of HIV infection, advanced clinical stage, lower CD4 cell count, and BMI are risk factors for anemia. Therefore, early ART enrolment for HIV-infected adults with nutritional support and rigorous monitoring of CD4 cell count are essential to lower the prevalence.

Unveiling the Prevalence of Anaemia and Its Predictors Among Adults on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in the Dolutegravir Era: a Retrospective Cross-sectional Study

“…Furthermore, this study indicates that mild, moderate, and severe anaemia affected 20.42%, 10.38%, and 0.7% of study subjects, respectively. This nding is in line with the severe level of anaemia in studies conducted at Goba (0.32%) [32], Sawla (0.91%) [34], China (1.2%) [26], and Hawassa (1.7%) [25]. But this study is lower than studies in Nepal, 11.9% [28], Dessie, 2.81% [22], and Gedeo, 7.4% [35].…”

“…But this study is lower than studies in Nepal, 11.9% [28], Dessie, 2.81% [22], and Gedeo, 7.4% [35]. Whereas this result agrees with the anaemia severity seen in other studies originating in Ethiopia: Goba, 11.69%, 2.6% [32]; Dessie, 22.96%, 15.56% [22]; Gedeo, 13.1%, 14.3% [35]; Sawla, 35%, 2.73% [34]; Hawassa, 13.5%, 14.7% [25]; and Wolaita Sodo, 25%, 8.04% [15] in mild and moderate anaemia respectively. But it also agrees with studies from China 27.2%, 10.8% [26], respectively.…”