Prevalence and Correlates of Metabolic Syndrome in Patients Receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Attending Infectious Disease Clinic in a Southwest Tertiary Health Institution in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The introduction of HAART has led to significant decline in morbidity and mortality in HIV/AIDS patient however not without the emergence of a number of metabolic derangements. Materials and Methods: The study adopted cross sectional design carried involed one hundred and fifty participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. 10mls of blood samples was collected after overnight fasting, distributed into appropriate specimen bottles for fasting blood glucose, CD4 count, viral loads and lipids profile assays. Results: There mean age was 41.94 years with female preponderance and male to female ratio of 1:3.81. The common ART used among subjects was tenofovir/ lamivudine/dolutegravir (98.4%). The log mean CD4 count was 5.58. The prevalence of abdominal obesity among subjects was 42.4% according to National Cholesterol Education Program for Adult treatment Panel III (NCEP‑ATP III), and a higher prevalence of 56.8% according to International Diabetes Foundation/joint interim statement (IDF/JIS) criteria. High fasting glucose was evident in 24.8% (n = 31), hypertriglyceridemia in 12.8%, majority (76%) had low high‑density lipoprotein and high blood pressure in more than one third (43.2%) of the population. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among subjects ranged between 35.2% and 43.2% according to the NCEP‑ATP III, IDF, and JIS criteria. Conclusion: The prevalence of metabolic complications of HAART in patients with HIV infection observed in this study is high despite improvements in morbidity and mortality conferred by immune reconstitution. The long‑term effects of these metabolic complications indicate the need for concern and active preventive measures. These findings call for an integrated management strategy.