Abstract:
Opportunistic infections (OIs) continue to cause substantial morbidity on
patients with HIV infection and contribute to mortality. There has not been any study made
on the prevalence of opportunistic infection among HIV patients on ART at current study
area. To fill this gap prevalence study was conducted on HIV patients under treatment.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of
Opportunistic Infections among HIV patients taking Anti-Retro viral Treatment in Hiwot
Fana Specialized Comprehensive Hospital from September 01/2010-February 28/2021.
Methods: Institutional based Retrospective study was designed to assess the prevalence
and associated factors of Opportunistic Infections among HIV patients. This study was
conducted among 655 study participant. Data was collected by reviewing the chart of the
patients. The data was entered into Epi data version 3.1 and transferred to SPSS version 22
software package for analysis.
Results: Out of 655 study participants 195(29.8%) of them had Opportunistic Infections.
The most common Opportunistic Infections were oral candidiasis 86(13.1%), followed by
chronic diarrhea 64(9.8%) and tuberculosis 41(6.3%). Being female patients (AOR=1.801
95% CI=1.159,2.798), younger than 40 years (AOR=.465 95% CI=.298,.725),
University/College education (AOR=9.056 95% CI=3.159,25.963), good ART adherence
(AOR=2.488 95% CI=1.224,5.056), patients with Bed ridden functional
status(AOR=2.676 95% CI=1.430,5.009), patients with no used Cotrimoxazol preventive
treatment(AOR=.370 95% CI=.216,.634), were found to have strong association with
occurrence of Opportunistic Infections.
Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of Opportunistic Infections observed in this
study. Females, age less than forty, educated people, lower level of adherence, taking
Cotrimoxazole preventive therapy, bed ridden and ambulatory functional status were found
to be associated factors for OIs.
