Nutritional impact on quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS: An observational study

Abstract

Limited evidence exists about the relation between nutrition, and quality of life among PLHIV. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of under-nutrition, identify risk factors and assess correlations with PLHIV and their quality of life. The proper implementation of nutritional support and its integration with the highly active antiretroviral therapy package demands a clear picture of the magnitude and associated factors of malnutrition. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and factors associated with malnutrition among PLHIV.Institutional based observational study conducted on PLHIV. Anthropometry indices and biochemical parameters such as serum total protein, serum albumin, serum globulin, albumin: globulin ratio and CD4 cell count were analyzed and expressed as Mean ± standard deviation and p value less than 0.05 was considered to be significant.: This study contained 208 PLHIV with almost equal proportion of both the gender. It was found that the males had better BMI than females. The mean serum total protein levels, mean albumin levels and CD4 cell count were lower than the normal range showing impaired nutritional status of PLHIV. It was also found that there was direct correlation between serum albumin levels and CD4 cell count.Nutritional status was found to be positively correlated with quality of life. The results prove that the existing care for PLHIV is impaired for their well-being. Nutritional support should form a fundamental part of treatment for PLHIV, including more efforts.