Health-related quality of life and nutritional status of people living with HIV/AIDS in South-East Nigeria; a facility-based study

Evidence on the nexus between Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) and nutritional status outcome is growing in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). This study was designed to evaluate the HR-QoL and nutritional status of adolescents and adults living with HIV/AIDS attending Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study design employed a purposive sampling technique to select 200 adults and 100 adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Ethical approval (FMC/QEH/G.596/Vol.10/542) and written informed consent from the patients were obtained. Information on the QoL, nutritional status, and adolescent/adult anthropometric status were measured/obtained and compared with reference standards - WHO QoL HIV brief version tool, subjective global assessment (SGA), WHO 2007 growth reference and Body Mass Index (BMI) respectively. Results showed that the respondents had good QoL (adolescents – 93.68 ± 10.20; adults – 91.95 ± 14.59). SGA data revealed that a good number of them were mildly/moderately malnourished (53.0% - adults and 48% - adolescents). Only 34% and 19% of the adolescents and adults were found to be thin/underweight. For adults, a positive correlation exists between SGA-determined nutritional status with BMI (p = 0.046) and overall QoL (p = 0.003). Inverse association between height for age with general QoL (p = 0.00) and psychological health domain (p = 0.00) was reported amongst adolescents. Income and household size significantly determined respondents’ nutritional status. A significant proportion of the respondents were malnourished. Association between these variables and their attendant socio-economic influencers was established. Policies/programs geared towards improving the QoL and nutritional status of PLWHA should be encouraged.