Effects of an exercise programme with people living with HIV: research in a disadvantaged setting

Abstract

This study aimed to analyse the physical health effects of a community based 10-week physical activity programme with people living with HIV. It was developed, implemented and evaluated in a disadvantaged community in South Africa. A pre-post research design was chosen. Major recruitment and adherence challenges resulted in a small sample. Among the 23 participants who took part in both baseline and final testing, compliant participants (n = 12) were compared to non-compliant participants (n = 11). Immunological (CD4, viral load), anthropometric (height, weight, skinfolds and waist to hip ratio), muscular strength (h1RM) and cardiopulmonary fitness (time on treadmill) parameters were measured. The compliant and non-compliant groups were not different at baseline. Muscular strength was the parameter most influenced by compliance with the physical activity programme (F = 4.516, p = 0.047). Weight loss and improvement in cardiopulmonary fitness were restricted by the duration of the programme, compliance and influencing factors (e.g. nutrition, medication). The increase in strength is significant and meaningful in the context, as the participants' goals were to look healthy and strong to avoid HIV related stigma. The improvements in appearance were a motivational factor, especially since the changes were made visible in a short time. Practical implications for health promotion are described. More research contextualised in disadvantaged settings is needed.

Home-based rehabilitation interventions for adults living with HIV: a scoping review

“…While the majority of studies investigating the effects of exercise on PLHIV have been conducted in developed countries, in recent years there have been isolated studies of this type emanating from the developing world, conducted in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Mutimura et al 2008a;Mutimura et al 2008b;Ley et al 2014;). Globally, most published studies on exercise for PLHIV have focused on interventions conducted in health care institutions or recreational facilities (for example hospitals or gymnasiums).…”

Development of a Tool to Increase Physical Activity among People at Risk for Diabetes in Low-Resourced Communities in Cape Town

“…In various studies, low-intensity activities and moderate activities such as aerobic exercise with warm-up, work-out and cool-down stages have been advocated as the most appropriate [30][31][32][33][34][35]. In some studies that implemented high-intensity exercise, the dropout rate was high, or a lot of participants could not meet the recommended level of performance [35,36]. The study by Pillay et al [35] also highlighted the importance of not only considering the duration of the exercise but also the volume and intensity.…”

Exercise Therapy for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Patients

“…Frequency refers to how often an individual engages in an activity, usually the number of days per week [56]. Most HIV studies have used a three times weekly intervention for both the aerobic exercise (AE) and progressive resistive exercise (PRE) component [12,13,57] with success three/four times per week [31], a few studies have reported positive results twice weekly [39,58]. Table 3 indicates the specific frequency of the AE and PRE component according to the different clinical categories with the corresponding CD4 cell count for each category [55]; for example, HIV-infected individuals in clinical category A1 (asymptomatic, acute HIV, or persistent generalized lymphadenopathy with ≥500 cells/μL) ( Table 3) [55].…”

“…A combination of aerobic and progressive resistive exercise (CARE) appears to be more effective than applying only one component [10]. Research studies have shown an improvement in and other measures of fitness [3,10,13], functional capacity [10,14], improvement in body composition (decreases in fat percentage, increases in abdominal fat loss, BMI, and lean body mass) [8,13,57], increases in viral load and cell counts for TCD4+/ TCD8 [13], improvement in QOL [8,9,11] and mood state [61], as well as improvement in lipid profile [13] and glucose tolerance [21].…”