The impact of one or more opportunistic diseases on the nutritional status of HIV patients admitted to a university hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of one or more opportunistic diseases on the nutritional status of the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients admitted to a university hospital. Methods: Cross-sectional, prospective study carried out in a university hospital. A research protocol was applied in order to know the sociodemographic data, clinical symptoms, anthropometric data and the presence of opportunistic diseases. Results: In the sample, there was a prevalence of 56.01% of females, with 51% in the age group from 25 to 39 years old, 70.7% of patients declared they had a partner. Among the clinical symptoms, dry mouth was more prevalent (56%). Malnutrition was more prevalent in all anthropometric variables, however, when correlating them with opportunistic diseases, it was not possible to observe statistical significance. As for opportunistic diseases, Pulmonary Tuberculosis was the most recurrent (32.4%), alone (12.95%) or associated (19.45%). Conclusion: Most patients have a nutritional status of malnutrition, which reinforces the need for early nutritional monitoring, qualifying the reestablishment of the nutritional status.