Abstract:
Background: Food insecurity and human immunodeficiency virus are highly prevalent in Sub Saharan Africa and it associated with Human Immune Virus (HIV). Some people discontinue
ART drug due to inadequate food. The success of Anti-Retroviral Therapy associated with lack
access to sufficient quantities of foods due to food insecurity. In Ethiopia particularly in West
Hararge Zone, there was paucity of well documented evidence on the magnitude of food
insecurity, its associated factors and coping strategies among adult People living with HIV.
Objective: To assess the magnitude, associated factors and coping strategies of food insecurity
among adult people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome on Antiretroviral Therapy follow up at public health facilities of West
Hararghe Zone, Eastern Ethiopia from May 15- June 15, 2022
Methods: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 421 adult HIV
positives attending antiretroviral treatment at randomly selected four public health facilities in
West Hararghe Zone. The study subjects were selected by simple random sampling technique.
A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Bivariate and multivariate
logistic regression analysis was made to identify the independent factors associated with the
food insecurity. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was
estimated to measure the strength of association.
Results: The overall magnitude of food insecurity is 80.3% (95% CI: 76.2-83.8). living in
rural area (AOR=3.3; 95% CI: (1.6- 6.7), presence of another family member with HIV
(AOR=2.1; 95% CI :( 1.2-3.6), inadequate dietary diversity (AOR=3.7; 95% CI: (2.0-6.6),
low frequency of meals (AOR=3.3; 95% CI : (1.7-6.3), and Current high Viral load in the last
12 month (AOR=2.3; 95% CI : (1.1-4.8) were associated with food insecurity. Eating less
preferred foods (91%) and reducing number of meals (64%) were common coping strategies.
Conclusion: Factors significantly associated with food insecurity were rural residents,
presence of other family members with HIV, low frequency of meals, inadequate dietary
diversity, and high viral load. Intervention should to address the factors of food insecurity with
ART care programs and special attention given for those had high viral load, low dietary
diversity , rural residents and presence of other family members with HIV.
