Dietary Diversity and Associated Factors Among Adult HIV Positive Patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy in Public Hospitals of Kembata Tembaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Nutritional knowledge and practice among antiretroviral therapy user adults in Bule Hora hospital, southern Oromia, Ethiopia

Introduction

Nutrition is the necessary basis for life, health, and human development over the entire lifespan. Poor nutritional knowledge, poor nutritional practices, and malnutrition among HIV-positive adults can contribute to accelerating the progression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and related diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the dietary knowledge, practices and associated factors of HIV-positive adults participating in antiretroviral therapy (ART) at Bule Hora Hospital, West Guji Zone, South Oromia, Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional institutional study was conducted among 418 HIV-positive adults by systematic sampling technique. Semi-structured questionnaires were used for data collection and analyzed with SPSS version 21.0. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with dependent variables using adjusted odds ratio (AOR), with 95% CI (confidence interval) at p < 0.05.

Results

The result of this study showed that the prevalence of poor nutritional knowledge and poor nutritional practices among (HIV) positive adults was 74.9 and 69.1%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, adult age (AOR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.30, 4.32), marital status (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI: 1.29, 4, 69), educational level (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.01, 3.30) and occupational status (AOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.94) were significantly associated with the nutritional knowledge. Educational level (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.48, 4.50), monthly income (AOR = 2.80, 95% CI: 1.68, 4.69), and adult occupational status (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.89) were also significantly associated with the level of dietary practice.

Conclusion

It was concluded that the respondents' nutritional knowledge and practices in the city of Bule Hora were poor compared to other national findings. The identified factors related to nutritional knowledge and practices were educational level, monthly income, adult occupation, and marital status of respondents in the study area. Therefore, each concerned agency should address the above gaps in nutritional knowledge and practices of HIV-positive adults in the study area.

Predictors of underweight among adult patients receiving antiretroviral therapy in Bishoftu general hospital, central Ethiopia: Case-control study

BACKGROUND

Underweight affects the overall clinical outcome and quality of life and increases the risk of mortalities in Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients. Though studies have examined the various determinants of being underweight in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), scanty evidence exists about the influence of dietary diversity scores and dietary counseling on underweight HIV patients in Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify the determinants of being underweight among adult patients receiving antiretroviral therapy at Bishoftu General Hospital, central Ethiopia.

METHODS

An institution-based unmatched case-control study was conducted among 279 participants (93 cases and 186 controls) from April to May 2022. Cases were selected consecutively as they occur, and then two subsequent controls that visited the antiretroviral therapy(ART) clinic were interviewed until the sample size was attained. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire and involved patient interviews and chart review. Bivariate and Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify determinants of underweight. The presence of statistically significant association was declared with p-value <0.05, and a 95% confidence interval was used to show the precision in the measure of the strength of association.

RESULTS

The response rate of participants was 91.2% for each of the cases and controls. Monthly income of patients ≤2000 birr (AOR = 6.63, 95% CI: 2.96-14.85), absence of support giver (AOR = 3.22, 95% CI: 1.38-7.50), being having an eating problem (AOR = 14.48, 95% CI: 5.06-41.40), dietary diversity score of four to five (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.92, 6.08), not getting dietary counseling support and advice (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.11, 5.72) and chewing khat (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.99,11.33) were determinants of underweight in adult HIV patients.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that household dietary diversity, counseling and education on nutrition, monthly income, eating problems, support giver, and khat chewing were predictors of being underweight in HIV patients. This inquires an integrated nutritional intervention including income-generating activities, counseling and education on nutrition and bad habits, and regular monitoring of the nutritional status during clinic visits.

Dietary diversity and associated factors among adult cancer patients attending treatment at Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Cancer has become a significant public health issue around the world and an increasingly important contributor to disease burdens. In countries like Ethiopia with high nutrient demands, people with chronic diseases like cancer are at a high risk of macro and micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, the present study attempted to assess dietary diversity and associated factors among adult cancer patients attending treatment at Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method and Materials: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 22 April 2021 to 22 May 2021 on 416 adult cancer patients at Black Lion Specialized Hospital (BLSH). A systematic random sampling technique was applied to select study subjects. Quantitative data were collected using a structured, pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised the standard dietary diversity measurement tool, which was adopted from the Food and Technical Assistance (FANTA) then data were entered into EPI INFO software and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Frequency, mean and standard deviation were used to describe variables. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to elicit factors associated with the dietary diversity of cancer patients and a P-value of less than 0⋅2 was used as a cut-off for further analysis. Logistic regression analysis with a 95 % confidence interval (CI) was estimated to measure the strength of association at P < 0⋅05. Results: The present study revealed that 61⋅5 % of patients had low dietary diversity. Being from a family size of five and more (AOR = 1⋅48, 95 % CI 1⋅28, 1⋅83), having no permanent income (AOR = 1⋅31, 95 % CI 1⋅15, 1⋅67), alcohol consumption (AOR = 3⋅97, 95 % CI 1⋅20, 13⋅1), not doing regular physical exercise (AOR = 1⋅83, 95 % CI 1⋅07, 3⋅12), lack of nutritional information (AOR = 2⋅23, 95 % CI 1⋅30, 3⋅82), poor nutritional knowledge (AOR = 1⋅84, 95 % CI 1⋅05, 3⋅25) and minimum meal frequency (AOR = 10⋅7, 95 % CI 5⋅04, 22⋅7) were factors associated with inadequate dietary diversity. Conclusion: The present study showed that the majority of cancer patients had low dietary diversity, suggesting that they are highly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, efforts should be strengthened to improve patients' income level, access to nutrition information and nutritional knowledge.