TY - JOUR
T1 - Implementation of a nutrition assessment, counseling and support program and its association with body mass index among people living with HIV in Accra, Ghana
AU - Sackey, Joachim
AU - Zhang, Fang Fang
AU - Rogers, Beatrice
AU - Aryeetey, Richmond
AU - Wanke, Christine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2018/5/4
Y1 - 2018/5/4
N2 - In spite of the important role nutrition plays in the management of HIV, access to nutrition services is inadequate, especially in resource limited settings. In addition, nutrition programs for people living with HIV (PLWH) have not been sufficiently evaluated for efficacy and this study was conducted to address this gap. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of the nutrition assessment, counseling and support (NACS) program in Accra, Ghana, and to assess whether the level of implementation of NACS was associated with the body mass index (BMI) of PLWH. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six HIV clinics (3 NACS designated and 3 non-NACS). Study participants were 152 adult PLWH at least 6 months on antiretroviral therapy and not pregnant or breastfeeding. Using a NACS implementation scale developed for this study ranging from 0 to 8 (a higher score indicating better NACS implementation), median NACS implementation score was not different between NACS-designated, and non-NACS HIV clinics (5 vs 4, p = 0.14). Almost half (47%) of the respondents were overweight or obese. A higher score on the NACS implementation scale was not significantly associated with overweight or obesity (BMI >24.9 kg/m2) after adjusting for other covariates. It was concluded that, there was poor implementation of NACS in the NACS designated HIV clinics surveyed with no nutrition counseling offered nor food support available to those who might need it.
AB - In spite of the important role nutrition plays in the management of HIV, access to nutrition services is inadequate, especially in resource limited settings. In addition, nutrition programs for people living with HIV (PLWH) have not been sufficiently evaluated for efficacy and this study was conducted to address this gap. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of the nutrition assessment, counseling and support (NACS) program in Accra, Ghana, and to assess whether the level of implementation of NACS was associated with the body mass index (BMI) of PLWH. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six HIV clinics (3 NACS designated and 3 non-NACS). Study participants were 152 adult PLWH at least 6 months on antiretroviral therapy and not pregnant or breastfeeding. Using a NACS implementation scale developed for this study ranging from 0 to 8 (a higher score indicating better NACS implementation), median NACS implementation score was not different between NACS-designated, and non-NACS HIV clinics (5 vs 4, p = 0.14). Almost half (47%) of the respondents were overweight or obese. A higher score on the NACS implementation scale was not significantly associated with overweight or obesity (BMI >24.9 kg/m2) after adjusting for other covariates. It was concluded that, there was poor implementation of NACS in the NACS designated HIV clinics surveyed with no nutrition counseling offered nor food support available to those who might need it.
KW - BMI
KW - Ghana
KW - HIV
KW - NACS
KW - nutrition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85039543049&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09540121.2017.1420137
DO - 10.1080/09540121.2017.1420137
M3 - Article
C2 - 29284281
AN - SCOPUS:85039543049
SN - 0954-0121
VL - 30
SP - 586
EP - 590
JO - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
JF - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
IS - 5
ER -