Effectiveness of nutrition intervention on health and nutrition profile of people living with Hiv and aids

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the health, nutritional status and quality of life of PLHIV and effect of nutrition intervention on the same. The study was conducted in two phases, phase 1 which was completed at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, New Delhi and Phase 2 which was conducted at MKCG Medical College, Berhampur (Experimental group) and VSS Medical College, Sambalpur (Control group) in Orissa. A structured questionnaire cum interview schedule was administered to elicit information pertaining to socio-demographic profile, clinical profile and dietary information. Anthropometric profile (height, weight, BMI, waist and hip circumference, WHR, MUAC and calf circumferences, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle percentage, visceral fat and resting metabolic rate) was determined using standard procedures and biochemical parameters (CD4 count and haemoglobin) were noted from hospital records. Nutritional assessment was done using Mini Nutritional Assessment Scale and quality of life (QoL) was studied using WHOQOLHIV BREF scale. Nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices were studied by using structured questionnaire and nutrient intakes were calculated from 24-hour dietary recall. In phase 1, 400 PLHIV adults who attended the ART clinic over a period of three months were enrolled in the study. Those who were older than 21 years of age those who were on ART for less than 6 months, those whose record of CD4 estimations within last 30 days from the date of data collection were available and those who agreed to answer the questions related to quality of life were selected. Majority of the subjects belonged to the younger age group of 21 40 years (82.8%) and heterosexual route was the main reason of HIV transmission (76.5%). The rate of unemployment increased from the time of detection of the virus to the time of interview due to ill health and HIV positive status per se. More than half of the sample reported their annual family income to be less than Rs. 30,000.