Skip to main content
Download PDF

Anemia among children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in Mekelle Hospital, Tigray regional state of northern ethiopia – a cross-sectional study

BMC Pediatrics volume 21, Article number: 480 (2021) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Anemia is a common complication of HIV/AIDS in children. There is lack of evidence on anemia prevalence among children living with HIV/AIDS on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Tigray regional state, which the current study aimed to generate.

Methods

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 241 children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART attending the antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic of Mekelle hospital from November 2018-January 2019. Socio-demographic data were collected using a structured pretested questionnaire. Participants’ hemoglobin level was utilized to determine the prevalence of anemia. WHO cut-off values for Hgb were used to categorise the severity of anemia. Microscopic examination was performed for morphological classification of anemia.

Results

Among the participants, 7 % (n = 16) were anemic in this study. Of these, 56 %, 19 %, and 25 % had mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. Morphologically, normocytic-normochromic anemia was found the most common type of anemia in this study.

Conclusions

The prevalence of anemia among participants was low in this study. However, a considerable proportion of participants had severe anemia, requiring regular monitoring of anemia status in these patients for better clinical outcomes and quality of life improvements.

Peer Review reports

Background

Anemia is one of the most common and widespread disorders worldwide, which causes various public health problems [1, 2]. According to WHO, about 1.7 billion people are affected by anemia, and the condition has the most dramatic health impact in children with an estimated global prevalence of 43 %; of this, majority of them live in resource constrained settings in Africa [3, 4]. In Ethiopia, according to a 2016 national survey conducted by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, the prevalences of anemia adjusted for altitude among preschool children and school-age children were 34.4 % (1 in 3) and 25.8 (1 in 4), respectively, with 31.6 % and 2.9 % in preschool children and 24.5 % and 1.3 % of the school children had moderate and severe anemia, respectively [5]. As per the reports of 2016 Ethiopian demographic health surveys, 56.9 % of children under-5 countrywide and 46 % in the Tigray region suffered from anemia [6].

Anemia is a common hematological complication associated with HIV infection in children, with its rate increasing with the progression of the disease [4]. It is a negative predictor of survival in these patients, posing a substantial negative impact on patients’ health, ranging from quality of life decrement to disease progression and decreased survival [7,8,9,10,11,12]. Due to high rates of malnutrition and iron deficiency [13], anemia has a substantial impact on children living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries such as sub-Sharan Africa with a prevalence range of 50–90 % [14]. Numerous studies from developed countries suggest the positive impact of HAART in reducing the risk and morbidity of anemia in HIV-infected children and improving their quality of life [10, 15, 16]. While other similar studies report anemia as the commonly observed complication associated with HAART, mainly with Zidovudine-based HAART [14].

In Ethiopia, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis [17] reported 22.3 % of the overall prevalence of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART. The study also indicated that treatment with HAART was associated with a significant decrease in anemia prevalence. However, the review could not include any evidence from the Tigray region, stating that there was no study examining the prevalence of anemia among these patients in the region. This, to our knowledge, is the first attempt to assess the prevalence of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in the Tigray regional state of northern Ethiopia. Estimating anemia prevalence in these patients can offer guidance for local ART clinic managers and service providers to plan appropriate intervention strategies for better anemia management. The study will also have an important implication for program planners and decision-makers at various stages of the HIV/AIDS care and support program, including the regional health bureau. Further, the finding could be a good source of data for future systematic reviews in this space.

Methods

Study setting

The study was conducted at Mekelle hospital, located in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray regional state, 783 km far north of Addis Ababa. Mekelle hospital serves as a referral hospital for the Tigray region, with a catchment population of about 8 million. It is the oldest general hospital in the region with a fully functional ART clinic and HIV/AIDS care services. The ART clinic has been serving the people living with the disease since 2003.

Study design and period

An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed among children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART who had been attending the ART clinic from November 2018–January 2019. All children living with HIV/AIDS aged between 6 months to14 years on HAART whose parents/caregivers consented to participate were included in this study.

Sample size determination and sampling procedure

A single population proportion formula was used to calculate the sample size. Using a 16.2 % prevalence of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in Northwest Ethiopia [18], a 5 % margin of error at a 95 % confidence level, and a 15 % non-response rate, the calculated sample size was 219. At the time of data collection, a total of 241 children living with HIV/AIDS were attending the clinic, and all the patients were therefore included in this study to provide a complete picture of anemia burden in the study population.

Data collection and quality control

All study participants were approached during their respective appointments for a routine check-up and follow-up. Data on socio-demographic characteristics were collected by interviewing parents/caregivers using semi-structured and pretested questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed by reviewing the relevant literature and pretested in similar setups before the actual data collection to increase the quality of the data. The interview was performed after providing sufficient information about the study and securing informed verbal consent. The questionnaires were translated from English to the local language (Tigrigna) and back to English to maintain their consistency. Data were collected from those patients/caregivers by trained nurses and laboratory technicians working in the ART clinic. A one-day training was given on the overall interview procedure to minimize systematic errors and improve the validity of the data.

Laboratory investigation was performed by the same qualified laboratory technicians to measure the Hgb level of participants to determine prevalence of anemia. Laboratory test quality was assured by strictly following standard operating procedures (SOPs) for blood sample collection and analysis used for routine laboratory tests in the clinic. Accordingly, a blood sample (3-mL) was collected from each participant using vacutainer tubes containing 2.0 mg/mL ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA-K2). The samples were processed and immediately analysed to avoid any impact from sample storage.

Data analysis and interpretation

The filled questionnaires were checked for completeness and consistency before each study participant left the ART clinic. SPSS version 24.0 software was used to analyse the cleaned data. Frequency and percentage distribution were used to summarise and present the data. The collected samples were thoroughly mixed before analysis to avoid clumping and clotting of the samples. The Hgb value of each sample was then determined using a hematology auto analyser (SYSMEX-XT 4000i, Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) within 2 h of sample collection. The prevalence of anemia was determined according to WHO Hgb reference range [19]. The cut-off values included: <11 g/dl for children < 5 years old, < 11.5 g/dl for children 5–11.9 years old, and < 12 g/dl for children 12–14.9 years old after adjustment of altitude. The adjustment was done by subtracting 0.08 g/dl for an altitude of 2254 m in the study area [19]. Following this, the morphological characteristics of red blood cells (RBCs) of the anemic patients were visually examined using a microscope by qualified laboratory technologists and classified into various features based on the overall size of the RBCs.

Results

Socio-demographic characteristics

All (n = 241) the patients attending the ART clinic were interviewed, giving a response rate of 100 %. Table 1 presents the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants and caregivers. The mean age of the study participants was 9.3 ± 3.3 (range: 0.5–14) years. Half (51 %) of the participants were males, giving an almost 1to1 (male: female) ratio. Most of the participants were orthodox Christian. Only a few (12 %) of the patients’ guardians were educated, while about a quarter was unemployed.

Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART at Mekelle hospital, 2019 (n = 241)
Full size table

Prevalence and type of anemia

Among the study participants, 7 % (n = 16) were anemic in this study. Among this, more than half (56 %, n = 9) of them had mild anemia, while a quarter (25 %, n = 4) of them were severely anemic.

On the morphology features of anemia, the majority (48 %, n = 8) of anemic children had normocytic-normochromic anemia followed by macrocytic-normochromic anemia (39 %, n = 6) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Morphology features of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART at Mekelle hospital, 2019

Full size image

Discussion

Despite several reports elsewhere in Ethiopia [17], this is the first study assessing the prevalence of anemia in children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in the Tigray regional state. The prevalence of anemia in this study was 7 %, with most patients having mild to moderate anemia. This anemia prevalence is a mild public health significance as per the WHO classification [19]. This result is lower than the findings (11.4–39.4 %) reported in other similar studies in Ethiopia [17, 20, 21]. This variation could be attributed to the difference in socioeconomic status, geographical factors (altitude), nutritional factors, seasonality, WHO clinical staging of HIV disease, time of the study, or a combination of these factors, which are known to affect anemia [10,11,12, 17, 20]. It also seems clear from the results that HAART could be associated with the observed low prevalence of anemia in this study. Similar studies from Ethiopia also reported up to 60 % reduction in anemia prevalence in HIV-infected children on HAART compared with non-HAART initiated counterparts [17, 22, 23]. This is also in agreement with other studies elsewhere [10, 24]. This suggests that a sustainable effort would be imperative to further improving the quality of HAART service and ensuring optimum HAART adherence for better management of any health compromise from anemia.

Although anemia was less prevalent in this study, it is crucial to highlight the considerable proportion (25 %) of severely anemic participants. This result is higher than the findings reported in Northwest Ethiopia (2.3 %) [18], Southwest Ethiopia (14.3 %) [25], Southern Ethiopia (6.5 %) [21], Uganda (4.8 %) [26], and India (8 %) [27]. Given the high mortality rate of severely anemic children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART [28], this particular finding is a grave concern. Thus, we suggest taking this finding as a signal for routine monitoring of the patients’ hematologic parameters to ensure that morbidity is minimised and quality of life is optimised. It also is advisable to assess and manage any anemia predisposing factors as part of the routine monitoring. Additional specific treatments in this group of patients may be beneficial to correct the severe anemia.

On the type of anemia, normocytic-normochromic anemia appears to be more common (48 %) in this study. This finding agrees with studies done by Engdaw et al. (2015) [18] and Fenta et al. (2020) [21], which reported the occurrence of normocytic-normochromic anemia in 46.5 % and 64.5 % of participants, respectively. However a study conducted in Uganda reported microcytic-hypochromic anemia (44.9 %) as the predominant type of anemia [26]. Due to limited data, we could not suggest any underlying causes for the observed microcytosis and macrocytosis in the current study.

This study provides first-hand prevalence data on the study populations in our region. Interpretation of the findings should consider the following limitations, however. The findings may not be generalisable given the study population and anemic patients were relatively small to represent the whole children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART population in the region. In addition, the study did not explore the association between anemia and various factors such as socio-demographic characteristics, environmental, nutritional, disease-related, lifestyle, presence of malaria, and intestinal parasitosis, which may affect the Hgb levels of the study participants. Therefore, we were unable to identify the determinants of anemia in this study. Undertaking in-depth studies, exploring the underlying factors is deemed necessary.

Conclusions

Among children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in the Tigray region, the prevalence of anemia was low, with mostly mild in severity. Normocytic-normochromic anemia was the most frequent type. Although the overall anemia prevalence was relatively low, the presence of considerable severely anaemic patients suggests regular monitoring of anemia status for better clinical outcome and quality of life improvements. Further well-designed studies are required to evaluate the impact of HAART on anemia and survival of children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART at the regional level for conclusive evidence.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

AIDS:

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

ART:

antiretroviral therapy

HAART:

highly active antiretroviral therapy

Hgb:

hemoglobin

HIV:

human immunodeficiency virus

References

  1. WHO. Study Group on iron deficiency anaemia and World Health Organization. technical report series, No. 182, 1959. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/40447. Accessed 22 May 2020

  2. UNAIDS, Global AIDS update, joint United nation program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS: Geneva, Switzerland. 2016. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2016/Global-AIDS-update-2016 Accessed 22 May 2020

  3. Pasricha SR. Anemia: a comprehensive global estimate. Blood. 2014;123:611–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Benoist B, McLean E, Egli I, Cogswell M. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia 1993–2005, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, 2008. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43894. Accessed 22 May 2020.

  5. Ministry of health. Ethiopian national micronutrient survey report, September 2016. Available from:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316285242_Ethiopian_National_Micro_nutrient_survey Accessed 22 May 2020.

  6. Amaha ND. What factors are associated with the increase of anemia in Ethiopian children aged 6 to 59 months between 2011 and 2016? BMC Nutr. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-020-00371-6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Mocroft A, Kirk O, Barton S. Anemia is an independent predictive marker for clinical prognosis in HIV-infected patients from across Europe. AIDS. 1999;13:943–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sullivan PS, Hanson DL, Chu SY, Ward JW. Epidemiology of anemia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected persons: results from multistate adult and adolescent spectrum of HIV disease surveillance project. Blood. 1998;91:301–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ludwig H, Strasser K. Symptomatology of anemia. Semin Oncol. 2001;28:7–14.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Belperio PS, Rhew DC. Prevalence and outcomes of anaemia in individuals with human immunodefficiency virus: a systemic review of literature. AM J Med. 2004;116:27S-43S.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Brabin JB, Premji Z, Verhoeff F. Iron deficiency anaemia: reexamining the nature and magnitude of the public health problem. J Nutr. 2001;131:636S-48S.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Semba RD. Iron deficiency anemia and the cycle of poverty among human immunodeficiency virus infected women in the inner city. Clin Infect Dis. 2003;37:S105-11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fentie K, Wakayo T, Gizaw G. Prevalence of anemia and associated factors among secondary school adolescent girls in Jimma town, Oromia regional state, Southwest Ethiopia. Anemia. 2020; doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5043646.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Calis JC, van Hensbroek MB, de Haan RJ, Moons P, Brabin BJ, Bates I. HIV-associated anemia in children: a systematic review from a global perspective. AIDS. 2008;22:1099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Bunupuradah T, Kariminia A, Chan KC, Ramautarsing R, Huy BV, Han N, et al. Incidence and predictors of severe anemia in Asian HIV-infected children using first-line antiretroviral therapy. Int J Infect Dis. 2013; doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2013.04.006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Mulugeta A, Assefa H, Tewelde T, Dube L. Determinants of survival among HIV positive children on antiretroviral therapy in public hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Qual Prim Care. 2017;25:235–241.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Wagnew F, Eshetie S, Alebel A, Tesema C, Kibret GD, Gebrie A, et al. Burden of anemia and its association with HAART in HIV infected children in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Infect Dis. 2019;19:1032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Engdaw B, Alem M, Melku M, Addis Z, Terefe B, Yitayew G. Prevalence and associated risk factors of anemia among HIV infected children in Gondar university hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Hematol. 2015;15:12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. WHO. Haematology concentrations for the diagnosis of anemia and assessment of severity. Vitamin and mineral nutrition information system. Geneva: WHO, 2011. (WHO/NMH/MNW/11.1). Available at http://www.who.int/vmnis/indicators/haemoglobin.pdf. Accessed 22 May 2020.

  20. Shen Y, Wang Z, Lu H, Wang J, Chen J, Liu L, et al. Prevalence of anemia among adults with newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS in China. PLOS ONE. 2013; doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073807

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Fenta DA, Nuru MM, Yemane T, Asres Y, Wube TB. Anemia and related factors among highly active antiretroviral therapy experienced children in Hawassa comprehensive specialized hospital, southern Ethiopia: emphasis on patient management. Drug Healthc Patient Saf. 2020;12:49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Geletaw T, Tadesse MZ, Demisse AG. Hematologic abnormalities and associated factors among HIV infected children pre- and post-antiretroviral treatment, Northwest Ethiopia. J Blood Med. 2017;8:99–105.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Beletew B, Mengesha A, Ahmed M, Fitwi A, Wudu M. Determinants of anemia among HIV-positive children on highly active antiretroviral therapy attending hospitals of North Wollo Zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2019: a case-control study. Anemia. 2020; doi: https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3720572.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Nyesigire Ruhinda E, Bajunirwe F, Kiwanuka J. Anaemia in HIV-infected children: severity, types and effect on response to HAART. BMC Pediatr. 2012;12:170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Muluneh A, Fessahaye A. Hematologic abnormalities among children on HAART in Jimma University specialized hospital, southwestern Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2009;19:83–89.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Menon MP, Yoon SS. Prevalence and factors associated with anemia among children under 5 years of age—Uganda, 2009. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015;93:521–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Shetn A, Mehta S, Rajagopalan N, Dinakar C, Ramesh E, Samuel NM, et al. Anemia and growth failure among HIV-infected children in India: a retrospective analysis. BMC Pediatr. 2009;9:37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gebremedhin A, Gebremariam S, Haile F, Weldearegawi B, Decotelli C. Predictors of mortality among HIV infected children on anti-retroviral therapy in Mekelle Hospital, Northern Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:1047.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the study participants for their kind collaboration. We would also like to acknowledge the staff of the ART clinic in Mekelle hospital for their support and assistance during the data collection processes.

Funding

We did not receive any funding to carry out this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

    Feven Tesfay, Abrha Gebregerges, Haftay Gebrehiwot, Haftu Hailekiros, Letegebriel Girmay, Gebreslassie Gebremariam & Gebreyohannes Teklehaimanot

  2. Tigray Health Research Institute, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

    Hadush Bekuretsion

  3. Department of Biochemistry, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

    Gebrekidan Gebrezigher

Authors
  1. Feven Tesfay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abrha Gebregerges
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haftay Gebrehiwot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Haftu Hailekiros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Letegebriel Girmay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hadush Bekuretsion
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Gebrekidan Gebrezigher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Gebreslassie Gebremariam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Gebreyohannes Teklehaimanot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceived and designed the study: FT, AG, HG, HH, and LG; Data collection: FT, AG, HG, HH, and LG; Data analysis: FT, AG, HG, HH, and LG. First draft preparation and review: FT and AG; Review and editing: FT, AGHG, HH, LG, HB, GG, GG and GT. All the authors read and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Feven Tesfay.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was conducted after the approval of the study protocol, including the participant information sheet and consent, by the Department of Medical Laboratory Science Research and Ethical Review Committee (DRERC), College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University (no reference/permit numbers was stated in the letter). Given participants’ presence in the clinic was for their routine check-up and the data collection was part of the routine procedure, the committee decided to approve the informed verbal consent, which was mainly facilitated by the experienced nurses and laboratory technicians who were working on the days of recruitment. After ethics approval, permissions were obtained from the Tigray health bureau and the authorities of the hospital. The aim of the study was explained to the study participants and parents/legal guardians; confidentiality and privacy were ensured; and informed verbal consent was obtained prior to data collection. Given the study participants were under the age of 18 years, informed consent was obtained from parents/legal guardians. The consent forms were stored and handled in locked filing cabinets in a locked office as per the hospital’s recommended data storage guideline. All the methods were carried out in accordance with the standard operating procedure of the clinic and WHO guidelines.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tesfay, F., Gebregerges, A., Gebrehiwot, H. et al. Anemia among children living with HIV/AIDS on HAART in Mekelle Hospital, Tigray regional state of northern ethiopia – a cross-sectional study. BMC Pediatr 21, 480 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-02960-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-02960-1

Keywords

BMC Pediatrics

ISSN: 1471-2431

Contact us