Otorhinolaryngological Manifestations among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a Cross-Sectional Study

AbstractHuman immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) is well known to be a major public health problem globally. On the other hand, HIV/AIDS is associated with various otorhinolaryngological manifestations. On the other hand, there has been a global reduction in the burden of otorhinolaryngological manifestations since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy though there are limited studies on otorhinolaryngological manifestations among HIV/AIDS patients in Tanzania. A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Ilala District in Dar es Salaam from November 2022 to March 2023 where 380 study participants were recruited using convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires and analysis was done by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Of all the 380 patients recruited in this study, 22 (5.8%) had otorhinolaryngological manifestations. Most of the patients with otorhinolaryngological manifestations were males (6.1%) in the age group 0 –9 years (23.1%) followed by those aged 10–19 years (18.8%). The commonest otorhinolaryngological manifestations were allergic rhinitis (22.7%) and otitis externa (22.7%) followed by hearing loss (18.2%), Kaposi’s sarcoma (13.7%), tonsillitis (9.1%), chronic suppurative otitis media, (4.5%) si nusitis (4.5%) and adenoid hypertrophy (4.5%). Otitis externa predominated in males (23.1%) while allergi...
Source: Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research