Dyslipidemia and dysglycemia in HIV–Infected adults receiving care at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

Background: HIV infected patients exhibit a number of metabolic complications that include dyslipidemia and dysglycemia. These metabolic complications are among the traditional risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. However, the prevalence of these complications among HIV infected patients is not known at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH). Objective: To determine the association between the prevalence of newly diagnosed dyslipidemia and dysglycemia with ART use among HIV infected adults receiving care at MTRH. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted at MTRH. The study population was all HIV infected adults receiving care at MTRH. HIV positive adults were grouped into ART naïve and ART experienced arms, with each arm having a sample of 150 study participants. An interviewer administered structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and clinical data. Presence of dyslipidemia and dysglycemia was determined by measuring the fasting lipid profiles and fasting blood sugars respectively. Data was dually entered into Epidata software and validated. Data analysis was performed using STATA version 13 special edition. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of 300 participants who were enrolled, 69% were female. ART naïve and ART experienced participants were comparable in terms of social & demographic characteristics (p>0.05), body mass index (p=0.094) and blood pressure (p=0.658). However, ART experienced participants were younger (p<0.001). The prevalence of newly-diagnosed dyslipidemia and dysglycemia was 70% and 15.3%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of dyslipidemia (p=0.603) and dysglycemia (p=0.055) between the ART naïve and ART experienced participants. The prevalence of elevated total cholesterol, elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated triglycerides and low high density lipoprotein cholesterol among all study participants was 7.7%, 53%, 15.8% and 19.8%, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose among all study participants was 2.3% and 12%, respectively. There was no association between ART use and prevalence of dyslipidemia and dysglycemia. Conclusion: Irrespective of ART use, the prevalence of dyslipidemia was high and that of dysglycemia was also significant. ART use was not associated with the prevalence of either dyslipidemia or dysglycemia. Recommendations: The clinical suspicion of dyslipidemia should be raised among all HIV-infected patients receiving care at MTRH irrespective of ART use.