PREVALENCE OF ANEMIA AMONG HIV/AIDS PATIENTS WHO ARE TAKING ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPHY AT WOLKITE HEALTH CENTER GURAGE ZONE,SOUTH WEST, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Anemia is a frequent complication of people living with HIV/AIDS who are taking ART therapy. It is a worldwide public health problem with the global prevalence of about 24.8% affecting both developing and well-developed countries with an impact on health and socio economic development of nations. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia among ART users in Wolkite health centre Gurage zone southwest Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study from February to June 2022. Study participants who are visiting Wolkite health centre ART clinic were consecutively included for this study. Data were collected by using structured questionnaires which include socio demographic and other potential factors. A total of 3mlof blood sample was collected from each study participants for haemoglobin measurement using CELL DYNE 1800 haematology analyser. Quality control samples were tested before running patient samples to check the performance of the instrument. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 20 and summarized in tables. RESULT: A total of 158 patients were enrolled and among them 104 (65.8%) were females and 115 (72.8%) of them were urban residents. The overall prevalence of anemia among study participants was 18(11.4%). Higher proportion of anemia was found in females 11(61.1%) and urban residents 14(77.7%). Moreover, a higher proportion of anemia was observed in patients aged greater than 15 years (96.8% and in a patients who are WHO clinical stage II (p<0.001) CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The prevalence of anemia in the current study was found to be a mild public health problem.Having advanced WHO clinical stage II, encountering intestinal parasitosis, and using HAART drug regimens were predictors for anemia among participants attending ART in this study. Therefore, it is recommended that preventive strategies like nutritional education, nutritional screening, iron supplementation should be considered. In addition early diagnosis and treatment of anemia, longitudinal studies on foliate, erythropoietin determination are needed to determine the actual etiology of anemia in HIV infected individuals.