Prevalence of anemia and associated factors among patients living with HIV/AIDS at Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia

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.