Table 1.
Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics: distribution of patients with HIV at a tertiary hospital in Ghana, stratified by receiving ART or not
| Characteristic | Total (n = 525) n (%) |
On ART (n = 314) n (%) |
Not on ART (n = 211) n (%) |
p value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | < 0.001 | |||
| Male | 81 (15.6) | 34 (11.0) | 47 (22.6) | |
| Female | 437 (84.4) | 276 (89.0) | 161 (77.4) | |
| Age (mean ± SD) | 33.6 ± 4.9 | 34.6 ± 4.3 | 32.0 ± 5.4 | < 0.001 |
| Education | 0.019 | |||
| None | 88 (17.1) | 61 (19.7) | 27 (13.1) | |
| ≤ 9 years | 253 (49.0) | 154 (49.7) | 99 (48.1) | |
| 9–12 years | 123 (23.8) | 72 (23.2) | 51 (24.8) | |
| > 12 years | 50 (9.7) | 21 (6.8) | 29 (14.1) | |
| Others | 2 (0.4) | 2 (0.7) | 0 (0) | |
| Employment status | 0.302 | |||
| Unemployed | 104 (20.5) | 62 (20.5) | 42 (20.6) | |
| Part-time | 22 (4.3) | 14 (4.6) | 8 (3.9) | |
| Full-time employment | 365 (72.0) | 221 (72.9) | 144 (70.6) | |
| Retired and not working | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Retired but working | 1(0.20) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.5) | |
| Lost employment when status was discovered | 1 (0.20) | 1 (0.33) | 0 (0) | |
| Too weak to continue working | 14 (2.8) | 5 (1.7) | 9 (4.4) | |
| Alcohol consumption | < 0.001 | |||
| Yes, currently | 52 (10.0) | 14 (4.5) | 38 (18.2) | |
| No | 469 (90.0) | 298 (95.5) | 171 (81.8) | |
| Smoking status | 0.209 | |||
| Current smoker | 10 (1.9) | 4 (1.3) | 6 (2.9) | |
| Non/ex-smoker | 512 (98.1) | 309 (98.7) | 203 (97.1) | |
| Height (cm, mean ± SD) | 162.7 ± 8.0 | 161.8 ± 7.9 | 163.9 ± 8.1 | 0.002 |
| Weight (kg, mean ± SD) | 63.5 ± 13.4 | 64.1 ± 13.0 | 62.6 ± 14.0 | 0.172 |
| Hip girth (cm, mean ± SD) | 79.1 ± 30.8 | 89.8 ± 25.3 | 63.7 ± 31.5 | < 0.001 |
| Waist girth (cm, mean ± SD) | 66.8 ± 27.0 | 73.3 ± 22.0 | 53.4 ± 27.7 | < 0.001 |
| Peripheral neuropathy | 0.201 | |||
| Yes | 93 (17.7) | 50 (15.9) | 43 (20.4) | |
| No | 432 (82.3) | 264 (84.1) | 168 (79.6) | |
| CD4 cell count (mean ± SD) | 448.2 ± 271.8 | 493.1 ± 255.7 | 385 ± 281.8 | < 0.001 |
| Low-density lipoprotein (μmol/l, mean ± SD) | 3.1 ± 0.9 | 3.3 ± 0.9 | 2.9 ± 0.9 | < 0.001 |
| High-density lipoprotein (μmol/l, mean ± SD) | 1.3 ± 0.4 | 1.5 ± 0.4 | 1.1 ± 0.3 | < 0.001 |
| Lactate (mmol/l, mean ± SD) | 1.8 ± 0.4 | 1.7 ± 0.4 | 1.9 ± 0.3 | < 0.001 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dl, mean ± SD) | 11.9 ± 1.7 | 12.0 ± 1.6 | 11.8 ± 1.8 | 0.049 |
| Fasting glucose (mmol/l, mean ± SD) | 4.7 ± 0.6 | 4.7 ± 0.7 | 4.7 ± 0.5 | 0.800 |
*Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used if characteristic was categorical and Mann-Whitney U test if continuous
ART, antiretroviral therapy; SD, standard deviation
Peripheral neuropathy = vibration perception threshold > 9 V, base of first toe (left and right; average of three measurements)