Body mass index in individuals with HIV infection and factors associated with thinness and overweight/obesity

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted using body mass index (BMI) to estimate the prevalence of thinness and overweight/obesity and associated factors in 2,018 individuals with HIV/AIDS attending health services referral centers. The dependent variable was classified as thinness, overweight/obesity and eutrophy. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed considering eutrophy as the reference level. The prevalence of thinness was 8.8% and of overweight/obesity, 32.1%. The variables associated with thinness were anemia and CD4 cell count < 200mm³. The variables associated with risk of overweight/obesity were age > 40 years and diabetes, and the variables identified as decreasing likelihood of overweight/obesity were having no long-term partner, smoking, presence of an opportunistic disease, anemia, and albumin levels < 3.5mg/dL. The main nutritional problem observed in this population was overweight and obesity, which were much more prevalent than thinness. Older individuals with diabetes should be targeted for nutritional interventions and lifestyle changes.

Factors associated with undernourishment among people 20 years old or over with HIV/AIDS, attending public health services in the São Paulo municipality, Brazil

“…The estimated gross prevalence of undernourishment among HIV/AIDS individuals in this study (7.3%) is similar to the figure found by Mariz et al 22 (8.8% for both sexes), and higher than the one observed by Giudici et al 16 (5.4%), from a study carried out in the same health care network. Other Brazilian studies present prevalences ranging from 1.5% to 5.9% among men, and 3.7% to 9.8% among women 15,16,17,23 .…”

“…The complexity of HIV infection and its consequences reinforce the need of health-related actions to maintain the nutritional status of this group of patients. As the subjects of most Brazilian studies on this matter are patients of one single clinic, 13,14,17,18,19,20,21 and few include a higher number of clinics connected to a health care network 15,16,22,23 , the investigations on the nutritional status of HIV/ AIDS individuals, particularly those focusing on undernourishment, in a sample of patients attended in a public healthcare network with facilities broadly distributed over a geographic area, such as the one of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, may contribute for the understanding of this phenomenon.…”

Redistribuição de gordura corporal e alterações no metabolismo de lipídeos e glicose em pessoas vivendo com HIV/AIDS

“…It can be justified by the fact that all patients use NRTI, which is a drug class that has been named in studies as the main cause for lipodystrophy through the induction of adipocyte apoptosis due to mitochondrial toxicity 24 . Some recent researches conclude the use of HAART is not the only determinant of these changes in the nutritional profile (despite their direct association with adipose tissue and insulin resistance), but rather their sum with genetic, environmental and nutritional factors 25 . The prevalence of clinical dystrophy in this study was similar to the one found in another national study of similar size 23 .…”

Body Mass Index and Associated Factors of Obesity and Underweight in a General Out-patient Population in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

“…This agrees with the reports that demonstrated an association between anemia and weight changes in HIV subjects. [25,26] This demonstrated that anemia was a risk factor of underweight irrespective of the setting in which underweight occurred.…”