Experience of fatigue and associated factors among adult people living with HIV attending ART clinic: a hospital-based cross-sectional study in Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of fatigue and the factors associated among adult people living with HIV attending antiretroviral therapy clinic in Gondar town, Ethiopia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Governmental health facility that provides HIV care in Gondar town. OUTCOME MEASURE: Fatigue is defined by nine items version Fatigue Severity Scale. PARTICIPANTS: Adult (aged 18 and above) people living with HIV in Gondar town (n=392). RESULT: A total of 408 HIV seropositive adults were approached for consent, among which 392 participants consented to participate in this study, with a response rate of 96.1%. The mean age of the participants was 40.5±8.5 years. The prevalence of HIV-related fatigue was 53.3% and about 66% of women living with HIV experienced fatigue. The factors associated with fatigue experience were; female gender (adjusted OR (AOR): 2.61, 95% CI 1.01 to 5.3), being married (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.9), low income (AOR: 7.1, 95% CI 4.6 to 22.15), unemployed (AOR: 2.79, 95% CI 1.19 to 9.84), parity (AOR: 4.87, 95% CI 2.18 to 17.9), being anaemic (AOR: 12.45, 95% CI 5.6 to 41.01), depression (AOR: 4.51, 95% CI 1.91 to 11.20), mild weight loss (AOR: 4.2 95% CI 2.56 to 13.9) and moderate weight loss (AOR: 5.1, 95% CI 1.85 to 16.12), respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that experiencing fatigue is quite common among adult people living with HIV. It is important for the healthcare professionals and people living with HIV to understand; the possible causes of fatigue, remedies and ways to reclaim energy. The predisposing factors and complications that cause fatigue should be aggressively diagnosed and treated by the clinicians. Further qualitative studies exploring the reasons for experiencing HIV-related fatigue might help designing interventions.