Risk Factors Attributable to Hypertension among HIV-Infected Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Selected Rural Districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Urgent Tsuro; Kelechi E Oladimeji; Guillermo-Alfredo Pulido-Estrada; Teke R Apalata

doi:10.3390/ijerph191811196

Risk Factors Attributable to Hypertension among HIV-Infected Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Selected Rural Districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 6;19(18):11196. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191811196.

Authors

Urgent Tsuro¹, Kelechi E Oladimeji^{1

2

3}, Guillermo-Alfredo Pulido-Estrada¹, Teke R Apalata²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5100, South Africa.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5100, South Africa.
³ College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Antiretroviral therapy has improved HIV patients' quality of life and life expectancy. However, complications have emerged in the form of hypertension. In the rural Eastern Cape, there is minimal information about HIV-infected people. The current study intended to evaluate the factors associated with hypertension in HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy in rural areas of South Africa's Eastern Cape.

Methods: For this cohort study, HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral therapy aged 15 and up were recruited at random from several rural locations in the Eastern Cape. Using Cox univariate and multivariate analyses, the key predictors of hypertension were found.

Results: Of the total participants (n = 361), 53% of individuals had hypertension. In the Cox multivariate model, patients that had hypertension heredity, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m², eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², advanced and severe CD4 counts, 1TFE and 1T3E regimens, and the male gender were found to be at greater risk of hypertension.

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that hypertension is a prevalent concern among HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. HIV patients should have their blood pressure checked regularly, and they should be screened for high blood pressure and given treatment for it.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; anti-retroviral therapy; hypertension prevalence; hypertension risk factors; hypertension treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cohort Studies
HIV Infections* / complications
HIV Infections* / drug therapy
HIV Infections* / epidemiology
Humans
Hypertension* / complications
Hypertension* / epidemiology
Male
Prevalence
Quality of Life
Risk Factors
South Africa / epidemiology

Grants and funding

This research was fully funded by the South African Medical Research Council under its Research Capacity Development Grant (MRC-RFA-CC 01-2014). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.