Abstract:
Background: Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is among
the leading causes of infectious diseases morbidity and mortality worldwide. A common
manifestation of enteric involvement of HIV is diarrhea. Diarrhea affects approximately 90% of
patients with AIDS in developing countries and 30-60% of AIDS patients in developed
countries. Different studies indicate there are many risk factors for the occurrence of the
diarrheal diseases among peoples living with HIV/AIDS: socio demographic factors like age and
income, environmental factors like water, hygiene, sanitation, and housing condition related
factors. CD4 count, stage of the disease, prophylaxis and pre ART status are also among the
factors that affect the occurrence of diarrheal diseases. Even though these are the factors
identified so far, the study is going to explore more factors and fill the gap seen in the study area.
Objective: The objective of the study is to identify potential factors associated with occurrence
of diarrheal diseases among peoples living with HIV attending ART clinics in Jimma town.
Methodology: Institutional based unmatched case control study was conducted among 268
PLWHAs using consecutive sampling from January 20 - March 23. Structured questionnaire
were used and data were edited, coded and entered into Epidata then cleaned and analyzed using
SPSS version 16 for Windows.
Result: Male sex (AOR= 2.276; 95% CI:1.079, 4.800), public water point (AOR= 4.972; 95%
CI: 2.408, 10.266), absence of squat hole cover (AOR= 2.763; 95% CI: 1.276, 5.980), waste
disposal in garbage container (AOR= 7.676; 95% CI: 1.776, 33.188), having pets/animals in the
house (AOR= 2.260; 95% CI: 1.153, 4.427), not having refrigerator (AOR= 3.343; 95% CI:
1.274, 8.774), previous GIT disorder (AOR= 4.254; 95% CI: 1.647, 10.987) and history of
diarrhea (AOR= 3.966; 95% CI: 1.896, 8.295) were found to be potential risk factors of diarrheal
diseases.
Conclusion and recommendation: Male sex, public water point, absence squat hole cover,
waste disposal in garbage container, presence of pets in the house, absence of refrigerator,
history of diarrhea and GIT disorder were potential risk factors of diarrheal diseases which show
that hygiene and sanitation should be the core of intervention in prevention of diarrheal diseases
