Abstract:
Introduction: Patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) face serious health problems
due
to
associated
anemia,
which
increases
the likelihood
of infection
progression
to
state
of a disease.
Therefore,
determining
the prevalence
of anemia in
this
vulnerable
group
might
help
to
develop
strategies
to
reduce
the incidence
of related
cases.
Material
and
methods:
Institution-based
cross-sectional
study
was
conducted
from
May
to
October,
2021
among
HIV-positive
patients
at
Mizan-Tepi
University
Teaching
Hospital.
Study
subjects
were
selected
using
a simple
random
sampling
technique,
and
pre-tested
structured
questionnaires
were
applied
to
obtain
socio-demographic
and
clinical
data.
Blood
samples
were
collected
from
patients
for
hemoglobin
determination
by
hematology
analyzer
and CD4+
T-cells
count.
Data
were
entered
using
Epi-data
manager
(version 4.0.2.101)
and
analyzed
by
SPSS
version 25.0.
Results:
A total
of 244
patients
participated in
this
study.
Overall
anemia
prevalence
was 39.8% (95%
CI:
33.6-46.2%), in 33 (13.5%)
males
and 64 (26.2%)
females.
Sixty-two (25.4%)
patients
were
newly
introduced
to
antiretroviral
therapy
and
35
(14.3%)
patients
were
experienced.
CD4+
T-cell
of < 200/mm
3
(AOR: 3.218; 95% CI: 1.401-7.387%), WHO clinical stage II (AOR: 9.060; 95% CI: 2.955-27.776%),
female gender (AOR: 3.932, 95% CI: 1.878-8.233%), and body mass index of < 18.5 kg/m
2
(AOR: 5.849;
95% CI: 1.824-18.752%) were among variables, which showed significant association with anemia.
Conclusions: The prevalence of anemia in antiretroviral therapy-experienced patients was higher as
compared to naïve individuals. This study determined that anemia remains a major health threat to
HIV/AIDS patients.
