Abstract
BackgroundAnemia is a common complication of HIV/AIDS in children. There is lack of evidence on anemia prevalence among children living with HIV/AIDS on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Tigray regional state, which the current study aimed to generate.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 241 children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART attending the antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic of Mekelle hospital from November 2018-January 2019. Socio-demographic data were collected using a structured pretested questionnaire. Participants’ hemoglobin level was utilized to determine the prevalence of anemia. WHO cut-off values for Hgb were used to categorise the severity of anemia. Microscopic examination was performed for morphological classification of anemia.ResultsAmong the participants, 7 % (n = 16) were anemic in this study. Of these, 56 %, 19 %, and 25 % had mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. Morphologically, normocytic-normochromic anemia was found the most common type of anemia in this study.ConclusionsThe prevalence of anemia among participants was low in this study. However, a considerable proportion of participants had severe anemia, requiring regular monitoring of anemia status in these patients for better clinical outcomes and quality of life improvements.
Highlights
Anemia is a common complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children
Numerous studies from developed countries suggest the positive impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in reducing the risk and morbidity of anemia in HIV-infected children and improving their quality of life [10, 15, 16]
Despite several reports elsewhere in Ethiopia [17], this is the first study assessing the prevalence of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in the Tigray regional state
Summary
Anemia is a common complication of HIV/AIDS in children. There is lack of evidence on anemia prevalence among children living with HIV/AIDS on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Tigray regional state, which the current study aimed to generate. Anemia is a common hematological complication associated with HIV infection in children, with its rate increasing with the progression of the disease [4]. It is a negative predictor of survival in these patients, posing a substantial negative impact on patients’ health, ranging from quality of life decrement to disease progression and decreased survival [7,8,9,10,11,12]. Due to high rates of malnutrition and iron deficiency [13], anemia has a substantial impact on children living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries such as sub-Sharan Africa with a prevalence range of 50–90 % [14]. While other similar studies report anemia as the commonly observed complication associated with HAART, mainly with Zidovudine-based HAART [14]
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