Chronic Conditions Among HIV/AIDS Infected Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy At The Pantang Hospital.

Abstract

Background The number of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is increasing partly due to improved screening, earlier diagnosis, the use, acceptance, and greater accessibility to antiretroviral therapy (ART). The HIV disease, coupled with ART, results in chronic disease complications such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and renal failure, among other diseases. Therefore, HIV patients must be assessed to identify other chronic diseases associated with HIV disease for effective management. Objectives The main objective of this study was to assess chronic conditions among HIV patients receiving ART at the Pantang hospital. Method The study adopted a retrospective study design. Two hundred and twenty-two (222) medical records of HIV patients receiving care at the Pantang Hospital were randomly sampled, extracted and entered in an Epi-Info designed template, and imported into STATA IC version 16 for analysis. The analysis was done using means, standard deviation, frequency, and percentages. The Kaplan Meier failure curve was used to determine the experience of at least one chronic condition during the first three years on Antiretroviral drugs (ARV). The simple cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the association between the study variables. All statistical significance was set at < 0,05 at a 95% confidence interval.

Out of two hundred and twenty-two (222) patients records reviewed, 53.6% developed chronic conditions during the first three years on antiretroviral medication. The mean age of participants was 39.01+9.64years. Females constituted 65.32% (n=145), majority were married (42.79%, n=95), employed (82.88%, n=184) and Christians (84.68, n=188). Age and drug combinations were associated with the experience of chronic conditions within the first three years on antiretroviral medication based on the simple cox-proportional hazard model at a p<0.05. Compared to patients below 30 years, those aged 40-49 (ARR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.04-4.54) and those 50 and above (ARR: 3.34, 95% CI: 1.43-7.76) had an increased risk of experiencing chronic conditions. Again, the risk of developing chronic conditions was high among patients on TDF+3TC+EFV (ARR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.16-3.98), TDF+3TC+NVP (ARR: 4.07, 95% CI: 1.64-10.08), AZT+3TC+EFV (ARR: 3.05, 95% CI: 1.37-6.80), and AZT+3TC+NVP (ARR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.06-4.22). Conclusion The majority of patients developed at least one chronic condition while on antiretroviral drugs within the first three years. Since some drug combinations are associated with the experience of chronic conditions, patients’ characteristics must be carefully considered before administering medications.