Prevalence and predictors of selected non-communicable diseases among adult patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in tertiary hospitals in Lagos State Nigeria

Abstract

Background: As the global roll-out of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) continues to improve survival, the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) poses new challenges to HIV care. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and predictors of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus among adult patients on ART in tertiary hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 416 adult PLHIV using a multistage sampling method. Data was obtained using a pre-tested structured questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS Instrument, in addition to anthropometric and biomedical measurements. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were done using IBM SPSS version 27. Results: The majority of the respondents, 70.2% (n=292) were female, and 54.1% (n=225) married, with a mean age of 49.1±10.2 years. The prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes was 37.3%, 52.6%, and 7.2% respectively. More than 70% of the respondents had at least one NCD. Multivariate analysis revealed that the high-income earners had 2 times higher odds of being obese, compared with the low-income category (aOR=2.018, 95% CI: 1.244-3.273, p=0.004); and respondents in the oldest age-groups had 4 to 5 times higher odds of having hypertension, compared with the youngest age-group (aOR=4.185, 95% CI: 1.280-13.684, p=0.018) and (aOR=5.783, 95% CI: 1.692-19766, p=0.005). Conclusion: NCDs were more prevalent among the patients on ART compared with the general population, as almost three-quarters had at least one NCD. This study suggests that age, income and vegetable consumption are predictors of NCDs among PLHIV.