Log in to email corresponding author
|
Cite this article:
Andreas Chiabi, Jacqueline Lebela, Marie kobela, Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Marie Thérèse Obama, Tetanye Ekoe. The frequency and magnitude of growth failure in a group of HIV-infected children in Cameroon. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2012;11:15 Key words: Anthropometry, HIV infected children, growth, Cameroon Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/11/15/full Received: 17/10/2011 - Accepted: 19/12/2011 - Published: 25/01/2012 © Andreas Chiabi et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
The frequency and magnitude of growth failure in a group of HIV-infected children in Cameroon
Andreas Chiabi1,&, Jacqueline Lebela2, Marie kobela3, Lawrence Mbuagbaw4, Marie Thérèse Obama5, Tetanye Ekoe6
1Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 2Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 3Mother Child Centre of the Chantal Biya Foundation/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 4Bafut District Hospital, North West Region, Cameroon, 5University Teaching Hospital/ Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 6Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Andreas Chiabi, Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon. P.O. Box 4362, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Growth impairment is a major manifestation of HIV infection in children and has been implicated as a major contributor to both morbidity and mortality. This study the first to be done in this setting, was aimed at comparing the growth of HIV infected children to that of non-infected children in two referral health facilities in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
A prospective case control study was carried out on 39 HIV infected children in two referral hospitals and followed up for a period of 12 months. Anthropometric measurements were taken and the socio-demographic variables of mothers and infants noted. Thirty nine infected children (mean age 45.3 months ± 41.6 SD) were age and sex matched with 39 non-infected children (mean age 44.4 ± 40.7 months).
Out of the 39 infected children, 26 (66.7%) had at least one of the three anthropometric indices (weight for height, weight for age, height for age) Z scores less than -2. Throughout follow-up, 20.5% of the infected children were wasted (weight to height Z score < -2) versus none in the control group, 56.4% underweight (weight for age Z score < -2) in the infected versus 2.6% in the control group, and 51.3% stunted (height for age Z score < -2) in contrast to 5.1% in the control group.
This study demonstrated that wasting; underweight and stunting are common findings in HIV- infected children, thus stressing the importance of anthropometry in the routine care of these children.
