This study evaluated the effects of aerobic exercise program on the cardiovascular parameters, body composition, and quality of life (QoL) of people living with human immune virus (HIV). Patients were recruited from the HIV clinic in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Fish bowl method was used to randomize the patients to either experimental or control group. Experimental group received nutritional counseling and aerobic exercise program on a treadmill, 3 times a week for a period of 6 weeks, while the control group received only nutritional counseling. Cardiovascular parameters, aerobic fitness, body composition parameters, and QoL were evaluated at baseline and 6 weeks. Descriptive statistics was used to explore demographic data while the hypothesis was tested using inferential statistics of t-test. Alpha level was set at P<0.05. The result showed that there was an improvement in cardiovascular parameters in both groups, attaining significance in the experimental group (P=0.000). Aerobic fitness increased significantly in experimental group (P=0.000). Body composition decreased significantly while there was a significant difference in the muscle mass (%) between groups (P<0.05). All domains of QoL had a significant improvement in both groups (P<0.005). A 6-week aerobic exercise program in addition to nutritional counseling was able to significantly improve cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and QoL in people living with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Nutritional counseling alone can bring about an improvement only in QoL parameters.
Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Body composition; Cardiovascular parameters; Quality of life.