Incidence and Predictors of Hypertension Among HIV Patients Receiving ART at Public Health Facilities, Northwest Ethiopia: A One-Year Multicenter Prospective Follow-Up Study

BACKGROUND: The introduction of highly active retroviral therapy has dramatically reduced mortality and improved survival among HIV patients. However, there is a possible risk of comorbid complications such as hypertension. Little evidence is available regarding the incidence of hypertension among HIV patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy in Ethiopia. PURPOSE: To assess the incidence and predictors of hypertension among HIV positive patients receiving ART at Public Health Facilities, Northwest Ethiopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A one-year prospective follow-up study was conducted among a cohort of 302 new adult individuals initiating on a standard anti-retroviral therapy regimen with a median (IQR) age of 35 years (IQR=30–41). A pretested data extraction checklist was used to extract baseline patient records. The collected data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. The incidence rate was calculated, and a Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to estimate the survival probabilities of developing hypertension. Cox proportional hazards model was fitted to identify the predictors of hypertension. RESULTS: About 40 (13.25) new hypertensive cases were observed during the follow-up period, and the remaining 262 (86.75%) were censored. The overall incidence rate of hypertension was 16.35 per 1000 person-month with 2447 patient-month observations. Male sex (AHR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.02, 6.14), old age (AHR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.08, 7.45), high BMI (AHR = 6.54, 95% CI: 2.03, 21.13), diabetic comorbidity (AHR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.07, 5.22), and patients who were on Zidovudine (AZT)-based ART regimen (AHR =3.47, 95% CI: 1.10, 10.94) were significant predictors for the development of hypertension. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that incident hypertension is a common problem among HIV patients receiving ART. Routine monitoring of blood pressure and screening and treating high blood pressure should be an integral part of follow-up for HIV patients in ART clinics.