Diabetes mellitus and its associated risk factors in patients with human immunodeficiency virus on anti-retroviral therapy at referral hospitals of Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: The use of highly active anti- retroviral therapy (HAART) as well as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) per se have been shown to be related with diabetes among patients living with HIV. There is limited evidence on the prevalence of diabetes among HIV-infected patients in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of diabetes among patients living with HIV/AIDS at referral hospitals of Northwest Ethiopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: a hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at referral hospitals of Northwest Ethiopia between February 2019 and April 2019. Using WHO stepwise approach, sociodemographic, behavioral and clinical data were collected from 407 included adult patients. Simple random sampling methods was used to select the study participants. Lipid profiles, fasting blood sugar as well as anthropometric indicators were also measured. SPSS version 25 was used for analysis of data; bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULT: From a total of 415 patients living with HIV deemed eligible for inclusion, 407 with complete data were included in the final analysis giving a response rate of 98%. From 407 study subjects included in the analysis, 161 (39.6%) were men. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was found to be 8.8% (95% CI 6.05, 11.55). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age [AOR (95% CI) 1.04 (1.001,1.084), p < 0.05], educational status [AOR (95% CI) 6.27 (1.72, 22.85), p < 0.05, diploma; AOR (95% CI) 9.64 (2.57, 36.12), p < 0.05, degree and above], triglyceride level [AOR (95% CI) 1.007 (1.003, 1.010), p < 0.01] have shown statistically significant association with odds of diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of diabetes was notably high in patients living with HIV/AIDS. Factors such as increased age, educational status and higher level of serum triglyceride were found to contribute to this high prevalence of diabetes.