Prevalence and pattern of HIV-related malnutrition among women in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of demographic health surveys
2008

HIV-related Malnutrition in Women of Sub-Saharan Africa

Sample size: 11321 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Uthman Olalekan A

Primary Institution: Center for Evidence-Based Global Health, Save the Youth Initiative, Nigeria

Hypothesis

What is the prevalence of malnutrition among HIV-infected women in sub-Saharan Africa and how does it vary across socioeconomic status?

Conclusion

HIV-related malnutrition among women varies by wealth status, education attainment, occupation, and type of residence.

Supporting Evidence

  • The overall prevalence of HIV-related malnutrition was found to be 10.3%.
  • Prevalence decreased with increasing wealth index and education attainment.
  • HIV-related malnutrition was higher among women in rural areas compared to urban areas.
  • Professionally employed women had lower rates of malnutrition than those in manual or agricultural work.

Takeaway

This study found that many women with HIV in Africa are not getting enough food, and those who are poorer or less educated are more likely to be affected.

Methodology

Meta-analysis of data from Demographic and Health Surveys of 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to aggregation of studies with different methodological quality.

Limitations

The study relies on BMI as the only measure of malnutrition and does not account for household income or expenditure.

Participant Demographics

Women of reproductive age (15-49 years) from 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.903

Confidence Interval

95% CI 7.4% to 14.1%

Statistical Significance

p=0.903

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-2458-8-226

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