Opportunistic Infections among newly diagnosed HIV patients in the largest tertiary facility in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Opportunistic infections (OIs) among newly diagnosed HIV patients are a marker for inadequateness of HIV awareness and testing. Despite global efforts at creating awareness for early detection, late HIV diagnosis and its associated OIs still exist. This study sought to determine the prevalence and patterns of OIs and associated factors among newly diagnosed HIV patients in Ghana.

METHODS: A retrospective study using data extraction was conducted among 423 newly diagnosed HIV patients aged ≥18 years at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital from July 1st 2018 to December 2019. Multivariate logistic regression was adopted to assess factors associated to OIs. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 16, and p-value < 0.05 was deemed significant.

RESULTS: The mean age of patients with a new HIV diagnosis was 40.15 ± 11.47 years. Male versus female sex differential was 30.3% and 69.7%, respectively. The prevalence of OIs among newly diagnosed HIV patients was 33.1% (95% CI = 34.6-44.1). About 70% (120/166) of patients with OIs were classified into WHO clinical stage III and IV. The most common OIs were candidiasis (oro-pharyhngeal-esophageal) (36.9%), and cerebral toxoplasmosis (19.9%). The odds of an OI at the time of HIV diagnosis among females was 51% lower than in males (aOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.28-0.86). Being employed increased the odds of OIs by 2.5 compared to the unemployed (aOR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.11-5.61). Participants classified as World Health Organization (WHO) HIV clinical stage III and IV were 15.88 (95% CI = 9.41-26.79) times more likely to experience OIs.

CONCLUSION: One in three patients newly diagnosed with HIV presented with an opportunistic infection, with men more likely to experience such infections. Significant attention should be given to improving case-finding strategies, especially among men.