Development of Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus, and Associated Factors, Among Adult HIV Patients in Ethiopia

• Main Authors: Tegene Y, Mengesha S, Putman E, Toma A, Spigt M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2023
• Subjects: chronic comorbidity; people living with hiv; nutritional status; antiretroviral therapy; south ethiopia; Immunologic diseases. Allergy; RC581-607; Arctic; Norway; Tromsø; Arctic University of Norway; UiT The Arctic University of Norway
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/b635c30e37234dfb87a185be4853b63a

Yadessa Tegene,1 Selamawit Mengesha,1 Erin Putman,2 Alemayehu Toma,3 Mark Spigt2,4 1School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia; 2School CAPHRI, Department of Family Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands; 3School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Science, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia; 4General Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayCorrespondence: Yadessa Tegene, Master of Science in Nutrition, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia, Email [e-mail]: Medical improvements and increased access to treatment have turned HIV from a highly fatal disease into a treatable and controllable disease. With the improvement in lifespan, HIV patients face increasing morbidity and mortality from chronic comorbidities (hypertension and diabetes mellitus). There is, nevertheless, a paucity of information on the scale of HIV noncommunicable disease comorbidity and its associated factors. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and predictors of chronic comorbidity in HIV patients in a resource-limited setting.Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from 2019 to 2021. We included 520 HIV patients at baseline. Patients without hypertension or diabetes were followed for two years to determine the incidence of developing comorbidities. Nine trained nurses used a pre-tested structured questionnaire to collect data during routine care consultations in three hospitals in southern Ethiopia. To find predictors of these chronic comorbidities, a multivariable logistic regression analysis was used.Results: After two years, 54 out of 377 participants, or 14%, had chronic comorbidity, which is defined as having diabetes and/or hypertension. Hypertension (12%) and diabetes (4%), respectively, were observed. When compared to those who were not overweight, the risk of developing ...