Overweight and obesity and associated factors among adult ART patients at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity complicates the care and treatment of ART patients and predispose them to chronic non-communicable diseases. However, there is a shortage of research evidence on overweight and obesity and its associated factors among adult ART patients in our setting. Therefore, this study aimed to asses overweight and obesity and associated factors among adult ART patients at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted by using systematic sampling technique. Primary and secondary data were collected from 369 adult ART patients from February to May 2017. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and laboratory outputs were used as primary data. The patient’s baseline medical records were used as secondary data. Ethiopian Ministry of Health ART patient’s follow-up tool was used to collect the required information. The standard laboratory and well-calibrated digital Seca Scale and portable Stadio-meter were used to collect medical and anthropometric data. Data were entered into Epi- data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated and presented by tables, graphs and texts. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed and the level of statistical significance was declared at p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) was 43.4% (95% CI = 43.35, 43.45). The difference in the overweight and obesity between the study period and initial commencement of ART was 35%. The course of HIV chronic care since the commencement of ART and during the study was 35%. Higher recent CD4 counts (200-499cells/mm3) (AOR = 3.15, 95%CI = 1.04–9.49) and (≥ 500 cells/mm3) (AOR = 7.58, 95%CI = 2.49–23.08), hypertension (AOR = 2.57, 95%CI = 1.24–5.35), higher baseline BMI status (AOR = 5.93, 95%CI = 2.62–13.40) and abdominal obesity (AOR = 1.82, 95%CI = 1.07–3.10) were significantly associated with overweight and obesity. CONCLUSION: In this study, a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult ART patients was reported compared to general adult population in Ethiopia. Overweight and obesity were significantly higher among hypertensive, with higher recent CD4 counts and abdominal obese ART patients. Thus, screening of overweight and obesity, incorporating nutritionist/dietician into the routine chronic care, and regular monitoring of the nutritional status of ART patients is recommended. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40795-022-00556-1.