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BACKGROUND:Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has greatly reduced the morbidity and mortality of HIV/AIDS patients but has also been associated with increased metabolic complications and cardiovascular diseases. Data on the association between HAART and hypertension (HTN) in Africa are scarce. OBJECTIVES:Primarily to compare the prevalence of HTN in HIV/AIDS patients on HAART and HAART-naïve patients in Limbe, Cameroon; and secondarily to assess other socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with HTN in this population. METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Limbe Regional Hospital HIV treatment center between April and June 2013, involving 200 HIV/AIDS patients (100 on first-line HAART regimens for at least 12 months matched by age and sex to 100 HAART-naïve patients). HTN was defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg. RESULTS:The prevalence of HTN in patients on HAART was twice (38%; 95% CI: 28.5-48.3) that of the HAART-naïve patients (19%; 95% CI, 11.8-28.1), p = 0.003. In multivariate analyses adjusted for age, gender, smoking, family history of HTN, and BMI-defined overweight, HAART was associated with HTN, the adjusted odds ratio of the HAART-treated versus HAART-naïve group was 2.20 (95% CI: 1.07-4.52), p = 0.032. HTN was associated with older age and male gender, in the HAART group and with BMI-defined overweight in the HAART-naïve group. CONCLUSION:The prevalence of hypertension in HIV/AIDS patients in Limbe stands out to be elevated, higher in patients on HAART compared to those not on treatment. Blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors should be routinely monitored. Other factors such as diet, weight control and physical exercise should also be considered.

BACKGROUND:Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been associated with dysglycaemia. However, there is scarce data on the risk of developing diabetes mellitus (DM) in HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. OBJECTIVES:Primarily to quantify and compare the risk of having diabetes mellitus in HIV/AIDS patients on HAART and HAART-naïve patients in Limbe, Cameroon; and secondarily to determine if there is an association between HAART and increased DM risk. METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Limbe Regional Hospital HIV treatment center between April and June 2013, involving 200 HIV/AIDS patients (100 on first-line HAART regimens for at least 12 months matched by age and gender to 100 HAART-naïve patients). The Diabetes Risk Score (DRS) was calculated using a clinically validated model based on routinely recorded primary care parameters. A DRS ≥ 7% was considered as indicative of an increased risk of developing DM. RESULTS:The median DRS was significantly higher in patients on HAART (2.30%) than in HAART-naïve patients (1.62%), p = 0.002. The prevalence of the increased DM risk (DRS ≥ 7%) was significantly higher in patients on HAART, 31% (95% CI: 22.13-41.03) than in HAART-naïve patients, 17% (95% CI: 10.23-25.82), p = 0.020. HAART was significantly associated with an increased DM risk, the odds ratio of the HAART group compared to the HAART-naïve group was 2.19 (95% CI: 1.12-4.30, p = 0.020). However, no association was found after adjusting for BMI-defined overweight, hypertension, age, sex, family history of DM and smoking (Odds ratio = 1.22, 95% CI: 0.42-3.59, p = 0.708). Higher BMI and hypertension accounted for the increased risk of DM in patients on HAART. Also, more than 82% of the participants were receiving or had ever used Zidovudine based HAART regimens. CONCLUSION:HIV/AIDS patients on HAART could be at a greater risk of having DM than HAART-naïve patients as a result of the effect of HAART on risk factors of DM such as BMI and blood pressure.