Dyslipidemia and Nutritional Status of HIV-Infected Children and Adolescents on Antiretroviral Treatment at the Comprehensive Chronic Care and Training Center of Jimma Medical Center.

BACKGROUND: Highly active antiretroviral treatment is beneficial to suppress human immune virus replication in infected individuals. However, dyslipidemia and other metabolic abnormalities have emerged due to antiretroviral treatment. The prevalence of dyslipidemia in children and adolescents on antiretroviral treatment varies from 20% to 70%. The lack of data on children and adolescents in Ethiopia was the rationale for conducting this study. We aimed to determine prevalence of dyslipidemia and nutritional status in children and adolescents on follow-up at Jimma medical center.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 150 children and adolescents on follow-up at Jimma medical center. A systematic sampling technique was employed. An interview was carried out to collect socioeconomic and demographic data and a review of medical records was carried out to collect patients' clinical data. Anthropometric data were computed using the CDC growth chart. About 3-5mL of fasting blood was collected to measure lipid profile. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to find the association between risk factors and lipid profile.

RESULTS: The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia in this study was 72%. About 72% and 21.3% of study subjects had low high-density lipoprotein and high triglyceride, respectively. Significant associations were observed between BMI for age ≤5% (AOR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.14-3.66; P=0.015) and low high-density lipoprotein; greater than 150 months on treatment (AOR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03; P=0.01) and high triglyceride; and BMI for age ≤5% (AOR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.03-1.37; P=0.04) and high triglyceride.

CONCLUSION: BMI for age <5%, treatment duration of greater than 150 months, and parents' educational level were significantly associated with dyslipidemia, so it is recommended that monitoring of those variables will help to reduce dyslipidemia and its complications in children and adolescents receiving treatment.