Abstract:
Background: Globally, diabetes is rising dramatically causing high health burden in low- and
middle-income countries. It is estimated that about 382 million people had diabetes in 2013.
In 2013, diabetes caused 5.1 million deaths globally. Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in
low- and middle-income countries.
Purpose: To assess the magnitude of diabetes mellitus (DM) and associated risk factors in
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals.
Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2014
at Jimma University Specialized Hospital. Convenient sampling technique was implemented.
Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected by senior clinical nurses. Venous
blood was collected from each study participant. Serum glucose and lipid profile of the study
participants was measured using HumaStar 80 spectrophotometer. Data were analyzed using
SPSS version 20. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were utilized.
Results: A total of 393 HIV-infected individuals of age ranging from 21 years to 75 years had
enrolled in this study. The overall prevalence of DM in this study was 6.4% (n=25). Two hundred
and ninety-one (74%) and 77 (19.6%) of the study participants had normal (70–110 mg/dL) and
impaired (111–125 mg/dL) fasting blood glucose values, respectively. After adjusting for the other
variables, age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =4.812, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.668–13.881,
P=0.004), duration of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (AOR =26.928, 95% CI:
3.722–194.822, P=0.001), hypertension (AOR =4.779, 95% CI: 1.646–13.874, P=0.004), and
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (AOR =5.669, 95% CI: 1.849–17.382, P=0.004) were significantly associated with DM.
Conclusion: HAART may have an impact on the cause of diabetes. Hence, HIV-infected individuals should be screened for diabetes, both before and after initiation of HAART.
