High prevalence of neurocognitive disorders observed among adult people living with HIV/AIDS in Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

BackgroundComprehensive care given to people living with HIV/AIDS is improving from time to time; however, their concurrent cognitive illness is still ignored, under screened and treated particularly in developing countries. And this problem is also striking in Ethiopia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and associated factors among adult people living with HIV/AIDS.\n\nMethodsAn institution based cross sectional study was conducted in Gamo Gofa zone public Hospitals from April to May, 2017. The systematic random sampling technique was used to select a total of 697 people living with HIV/AIDS. Data was collected using structured interviewer administered questionnaire and International HIV Dementia Scale was used to screen HIV-associated neurocognitive deficits. Data was entered using Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associated factors. A P value 0.05 with 95% confidence level was used to declare statistical significance.\n\nResultA total of 684 study participants were included with a 98 % response rate. From the total participants, 56% were females while 44% were males. The mean ({+/-}SD) age of the participants was 38.8{+/-}8.8years.\n\nThe prevalence of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder was 67.1% (95%CI; 63.6, 70.5). The multivariable logistic analysis indicated that body mass index 16 kg/m2 (AOR 4.149 (1.512-11.387)), being married (AOR 0.9 (0.604-0.623), unemployment (AOR 5.930 (3.013-11.670) and being in WHO clinical stage T3 category (AOR 2.870 (1.098-7.500) were the key predictors of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders among people living with HIV/AIDS.\n\nConclusionIn this study the prevalence of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder is higher than the earlier reports in Ethiopia and Africa. The associated factors also vary from that of earlier studies. This indicates the need for formulating preventive mental health programs and policies for people living with HIV/AIDS.