HIV/AIDS and Nutritional Status: Two Sides of a Same Coin: Both should be given Importance

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out at ART center of a tertiary care institution in Maharashtra. The study included 104 PLHAs who were started on ART for the first time, completed at least 6 months of treatment, and gave consent. Personal interviews were employed to gather data after obtaining informed consent, using a pre-tested, pre-validated questionnaire with a pre-determined scoring system, as well as anthropometric measurements and relevant investigations, all while maintaining strict confidentiality. In our study, 51.92% of the participants were female, the average age was 38.5 ± 9.6, 14.42% were illiterate, 32% had received primary education, and 32% had received secondary education. 16.35% were drivers, and almost all (96.15%) were married. With regard to BMI, there was a statistically significant difference in age, educational status, marital status, knowledge score, and anemia status. Logistic regression with BMI as the outcome revealed that age binary had some relationship. It means that the odds of having a normal BMI are 2.7 times higher in the older age group. A statistically significant difference in mean CD4 count was also observed before and after ART therapy. Regression analysis revealed that CD4 count after ART is affected by the individual's pre-ART CD4 count, ART duration, and gender. Each unit increase in pre-ART CD4 and ART duration results in an increase of 0.44 and 4.5 units in post-ART CD4. In our study, females' post-ART CD4 count increased more than males'. There is a significant gap in PLHAs' nutritional knowledge. The study also found that good nutrition has a positive effect on CD4 count. PLHAs who were older (over 40 years), married, educated, and had a higher knowledge score and a lower Hb% had better nutrition. As a result, nutritional interventions such as frequent health educational sessions on nutrition to increase the knowledge of PLHAs can be emphasized during each follow-up visit at ART centers are urgently needed. There is a need to identify PLHAs that receive no or little nutritional support and provide nutritional supplementation, for which the planning and policy section requires adequate research evidence from India.