Mensah Kofi Akohene, Okyere Paul, Doku Paul Narh
School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
BMC Res Notes. 2015 Oct 1;8:519. doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1511-3.
Community-based care and support services are limited in sub-Saharan Africa and as a result a high number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are not getting the required care and support services. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of food supplementation services for PLHIV in Ghana on weight gained and factors associated with weight gained.
The study employed mixed methods study design involving quantitative and qualitative techniques. These were structured questionnaire administered to 200 PLHIV selected through simple random sampling and a qualitative component consisting of 14 semi-structured interviews with purposefully selected stakeholders and eight focus group discussions with the beneficiaries.
The analysis of the quantitative data showed on average, beneficiaries had gained weight [mean difference in weight was 2 kg with 95 % CI (1.1, 2.9), P value <0.001]. Multivariate analysis showed that the support group to which the beneficiary belonged was the most important determinant of gaining weight. Through the qualitative interviews, beneficiaries indicated that the anti-retroviral drugs were making them hungry and the food helped to alleviate that effect. Notwithstanding, they indicated that the food was nutritious, made them healthy and strong, contributed to their weight gain and was their main sources of hope at home when they had no money.
A broad strategy of food supplementation for PLHIV should be implemented in different ways for different support groups taking into account the differences between different support groups when planning such an intervention.
撒哈拉以南非洲地区基于社区的护理和支持服务有限，因此大量艾滋病毒感染者（PLHIV）无法获得所需的护理和支持服务。本研究的目的是评估加纳为PLHIV提供的食物补充服务对体重增加的影响以及与体重增加相关的因素。
本研究采用混合方法研究设计，涉及定量和定性技术。这些方法包括通过简单随机抽样对200名PLHIV进行结构化问卷调查，以及对有目的地选择的利益相关者进行14次半结构化访谈和对受益者进行8次焦点小组讨论的定性部分。
定量数据分析显示，平均而言，受益者体重增加[体重平均差异为2千克，95%置信区间为（1.1，2.9），P值<0.001]。多变量分析表明，受益者所属的支持小组是体重增加的最重要决定因素。通过定性访谈，受益者表示抗逆转录病毒药物使他们感到饥饿，而食物有助于缓解这种影响。尽管如此，他们表示食物营养丰富，使他们健康强壮，有助于体重增加，并且在他们没钱时是家里希望的主要来源。
在规划此类干预措施时，应考虑不同支持小组之间的差异，以不同方式为不同支持小组实施针对PLHIV的广泛食物补充策略。
