A qualitative study exploring perceptions of people living with HIV using antiretroviral therapy on self-management of healthy nutrition and the related healthcare service in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

In Ethiopia, undernutrition is a quite common health problem among people living with HIV. Unlike in developed countries, nutritional counseling for people living with HIV has not received much attention. This study aimed to explore the perception of people living with HIV on their dietary practice and the existing health care service in Ethiopia. A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted in two hospitals in southern Ethiopia from March to June 2018. A pre-tested interview guide was prepared in English and translated into the Amharic language. The data were collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observations in the ART clinics by six trained nurses. The data were analyzed thematically. Almost all focus group discussion participants mentioned that a healthy diet for ART patients is very important. The majority of the participants mentioned that they were not satisfied with the counseling service given at the ART clinics. Lack of training for health care professionals on nutritional counseling was also reported as a challenge by the nurses themselves. Nutritional counseling given by health care professionals at the ART clinic was poor. Emphasis should be given to the training of healthcare professionals working in ART clinics on nutritional counseling.

KEYWORDS:

• Nutritional counseling
• adult people living with HIV
• qualitative study
• Ethiopia

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences for providing funds for the study. The authors would like to thank also the data collectors and the study participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

To conform with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and the Population Screening Act, ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Hawassa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences institutional review board (IRB/084/18). An ethical approval letter was written on February 08, 2018. Before the data collection, informed verbal consent was obtained from each study participant. The data were collected and analyzed anonymously.

Authors’ contributions

YT, SM, AT, DG and MS conceived and designed the study. YT obtained the data, analyzed and wrote the original draft. YT, SM, AT, AA and DG interpreted and critically revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final draft of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research work was financed by Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ethiopia. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.