Abstract

Background Undernutrition among HIV-positive adults in Ethiopia highlights the cycle of cause- and-effect relationships between undernutrition and HIV infection.

Aim The study aimed to assess the prevalence of undernutrition and its determinants among HIV-positive adults in Ethiopia.

Methods Intensive searches were carried out utilizing PubMed, EMBASE (Elsevier), Cochrane, and and other electronic databases such as Science Direct, African Journal Online (AJOL), Google Scholar, and gray literature.

Data synthesis/findings A total sample size of 5,648 and a total number of undernourished individuals of 1,474 from 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. The study found that the pooled prevalence of 26.70% (95% CI: 21.31%, 32.10%) of HIV-positive patients in Ethiopia are undernourished. Factors determining undernutrition include having opportunistic infections (OR: 3.496, 95% CI 1.776-5.217), being at an advanced WHO clinical stage II or above (OR: 2.916, 95% CI 1.088-4.744), having a cluster differentiation (CD4) count below 200 cells (OR: 3.099, 95% CI 1.418-4.779), and food insecurity (OR: 3.352, 95% CI 1.418-5.287).

Conclusion The systematic review and meta-analysis found that Ethiopia’s HIV-positive population faces high undernutrition rates in comparison to studies done in sub-Saharan Africa. Opportunistic infections, advanced WHO clinical disease stage, CD4 counts below 200 cells/mm³, and food insecurity were identified as statistically significant factors determining the high prevalence of undernutrition. This suggests a cyclic link between undernutrition and health outcomes. The meta-analysis identifies factors influencing undernutrition in Ethiopia’s HIV-positive population, but more research is needed to determine the efficacy of interventions and address root causes.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

All of the authors in this systematic review and meta-analysis were from low-income countries the country is listed in the candidate for fee-waiving list.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

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I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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Footnotes

E-mail address of Authers: Amare Admasu (A.A): amare.admasuwsu.edu.et, amareadmasu2gmail.com, Takele Tadesse (TT): takeletadesse1627gmail.com, Amene Abebe (AA): ameneabegmail.com, Eskinder Wolka (EW): wolkaeskindergmail.com

Data Availability

All data are within the manuscript and its supporting information files.

Abbreviations/AcronymsPLHIVPeople Living with HIVSRMAsystematic review and meta-analysisSSASub-Saharan-AfricaWLHwomen living with HIV