Retrospective analysis of the prevalence of and factors associated with condom use among young HIV-infected women in Cameroon.

OBJECTIVES: Young women are more likely to be infected with HIV globally, in sub-Saharan Africa, and in Cameroon. Despite its clear clinical and public health benefits, condom use among HIV-infected women continues to be low. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of inconsistent condom use among HIV-infected women in Cameroon and the factors associated with it. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of HIV-infected young women aged 17-26 years from three semi-urban HIV clinics in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. This study was a subgroup analysis of a previously reported study on inconsistent condom use in HIV-infected and -uninfected youth. Inconsistent condom use was defined as reporting "sometimes" or "never" to questions regarding frequency of condom use. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine factors associated with inconsistent condom use. RESULTS: A total of 84 participants were recruited and submitted completed questionnaires for analysis. Median age was 24 years (interquartile range = 22-25) and the median age at HIV diagnosis was 21 years (interquartile range = 20-23). Fifty percent of the participants reported no prior schooling or only primary school education. Overall, 61/84 (73%) reported inconsistent condom use. After adjusting for potential confounders, education to the secondary school level was protective against inconsistent condom use (odds ratio = 0.19; confidence interval: 0.04-0.95), and having ≥2 pregnancies was associated with inconsistent condom use (odds ratio = 7.52; confidence interval: 1.67-34.00). CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of inconsistent condom use among young HIV-infected women in Cameroon, which appears to be associated with lower levels of educational attainment and higher parity. Further larger studies assessing the factors associated with poor condom use in this population are warranted and may inform public health policy in resource-limited settings with high HIV prevalence.

Prediabetes and diabetes among HIV-infected adults in Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and certain antiretrovirals are associated with diabetes. Few studies have examined the prevalence of and factors associated with diabetes among HIV-infected individuals on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in sub-Saharan Africa; some report prevalence estimates between 3.5-26.5% for diabetes in Cameroon and 20.2-43.5% for prediabetes in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, HIV-infected individuals (16-65 years old) were screened for diabetes using haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c ). We further categorized HbA1C as normoglycemia (HbA1c < 5.7%), prediabetes (HbA1c 5.7-6.4%) or diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%). Dysglycemia was defined as HbA1c ≥ 5.7%. Logistic regression modelling was used to assess factors associated with having dysglycemia. RESULTS: Of 500 participants, 363 (72.6%) were female. Median age was 42.5 years [interquartile range (IQR): 36.5-49.5]. Nineteen patients (3.8%) had diabetes and 170 patients (34%) were classified as having prediabetes. One hundred nine (22%) had a CD4+ count <200 cells/mm(3) , and 464 (93%) had received >28 days of ART at time of screening. Median abdominal circumference for women was 79.5 cm (IQR: 75.5-85.3) and for men, 86.5 cm (IQR: 81.7-90.5). Adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status, CD4 cell count, being on cART >28 days, body mass index, hypertension, history of hypertension, abdominal circumference and duration of HIV infection, larger abdominal circumference was associated with higher prevalence of prediabetes or diabetes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.11), while being on cART (adjusted odds ratio = 0.46, confidence interval: 0.22-0.99) was associated with lower prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high prevalence of dysglycemia among Cameroonian HIV-infected adults. Larger abdominal circumference was associated with higher prevalence, while cART was associated with lower prevalence. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lower Preprandial Insulin and Altered Fuel Use in HIV/Antiretroviral-Exposed Infants in Cameroon.

CONTEXT: Intrauterine HIV/antiretroviral (ARV) and postnatal ARVs are known to perturb energy metabolism and could have permanent effects on future metabolic health. Such maladaptive effects could be mediated by changes in mitochondrial function and intermediary metabolism due to fetal and early-life ARV exposure in HIV/ARV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to understand the relationship(s) between mitochondrial fuel use (assessed via acylcarnitines and branched chain amino acids) and preprandial insulin in infants exposed to in utero HIV/ARV plus postnatal zidovudine or nevirapine compared with HIV/ARV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) infants. DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study with the following three groups: 1) intrauterine HIV/ARV/postnatal zidovudine-exposed (HEU-A), 2) intrauterine HIV/ARV/postnatal nevirapine-exposed (HEU-N), and 3) HUU infants. Principal component analysis and linear regression modeling were performed to assess the association between in utero HIV/ARV exposure and infant insulin. SETTING: The study was conducted at Cameroonian urban antenatal centers. PARTICIPANTS: HIV-infected and -uninfected pregnant woman/infant dyads participated in the study. MAIN OUTCOME: Preprandial insulin was the main outcome measured. RESULTS: Of 366 infants, 38 were HEU-A, 118 HEU-N. Forty intermediary metabolites were consolidated into seven principal components. In a multivariate analysis, both HEU-A (ß = -.116, P= .012) and HEU-N (ß = -.070, P= .022) demonstrated lower insulin compared with HUU infants. However, at high levels of plasma metabolites, HEU-A (ß = .027, P= .050) exhibited higher insulin levels than HEU-N or HUU infants. A unique array of short-chain acylcarnitines (ß = .044, P= .001) and branched-chain amino acids (ß = .033, P= .012) was associated with insulin. CONCLUSION: HEU-A and HEU-N infants have lower preprandial insulin levels at 6 weeks of age and appear to use metabolic fuel substrates differently than HUU infants. Future studies are warranted to determine whether observed differences have lasting metabolic implications, such as later insulin resistance.

Factors associated with inconsistent condom use in adolescents with negative or unknown HIV status in Northwest Cameroon.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between utilization of HIV testing and condom use amongst Cameroonian youths/adolescents who are not known to be HIV-infected. Worldwide, HIV is spreading most quickly amongst youths/adolescents. Between 44% and 82% of sexually active youths in Cameroon report inconsistent condom use. Data regarding utilization of HIV testing and condom use are lacking. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 431 youths ages 12-26 years in Cameroon from September 2011 to December 2011. Data on sociodemographics, sexual risk behaviors, self-reported HIV status, and condom use were collected. We compared rates of inconsistent condom use between those with known HIV negative status who utilized testing (HIV-N) and those with unknown status due to unutilized testing (HIV-U). Inconsistent condom use was defined as responding "never," "sometimes," or "usually," while consistent condom use was defined as responding "always" to questions regarding frequency of condom use. Generalized estimating equations were applied to assess the association between HIV testing and inconsistent condom use, adjusting for other confounders. Of 414 eligible respondents, 205 were HIV-U and 209 were HIV-N. HIV-U subjects were younger (mean age = 16.4 vs. 17.9, p < 0.001) and more likely to report living in an urban area (p = 0.002) than HIV-N subjects. Seventy-two percent (137/191) of sexually active youths reported inconsistent condom use. After adjusting for potential confounders, HIV-U status (odds ratio [OR] = 3.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.68-6.01) was associated with inconsistent condom use. Similarly, female gender (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.29-7.89) was associated with inconsistent condom use, while older age at sexual debut was associated with a decreased risk for inconsistent condom use (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.56-0.81). Cameroonian adolescents report high rates of inconsistent condom use which we found to be associated with self-reported unknown HIV status due to unutilized HIV testing. Successful HIV prevention programs among African youths/adolescents may benefit from expanded HIV testing programs.

Assessing the accessibility of HIV care packages among tuberculosis patients in the Northwest Region, Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection is a major source of morbidity and mortality globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that HIV counselling and testing be offered routinely to TB patients in order to increase access to HIV care packages. We assessed the uptake of provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC), antiretroviral (ART) and co-trimoxazole preventive therapies (CPT) among TB patients in the Northwest Region, Cameroon. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using TB registers in 4 TB/HIV treatment centres (1 public and 3 faith-based) for patients diagnosed with TB between January 2006 and December 2007 to identify predictors of the outcomes; HIV testing/serostatus, ART and CPT enrollment and factors that influenced their enrollment between public and faith-based hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 2270 TB patients were registered and offered pre-HIV test counselling; 2150 (94.7%) accepted the offer of a test. The rate of acceptance was significantly higher among patients in the public hospital compared to those in the faith-based hospitals (crude OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.33 - 2.92) and (adjusted OR 1.92; 95% CI 1.24 - 2.97). HIV prevalence was 68.5% (1473/2150). Independent predictors of HIV-seropositivity emerged as: females, age groups 15-29, 30-44 and 45-59 years, rural residence, previously treated TB and smear-negative pulmonary TB. ART uptake was 50.3% (614/1220) with 17.2% (253/1473) of missing records. Independent predictors of ART uptake were: previously treated TB and extra pulmonary TB. Finally, CPT uptake was 47.0% (524/1114) with 24% (590/1114) of missing records. Independent predictors of CPT uptake were: faith-based hospitals and female sex. CONCLUSION: PITC services are apparently well integrated into the TB programme as demonstrated by the high testing rate. The main challenges include improving access to ART and CPT among TB patients and proper reporting and monitoring of programme activities.