RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe growth and pubertal development of adolescents with HIV infection under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Cameroon. DESIGN: Through an observational study, we included 74 adolescents aged 9-17 years who were taking HAART and had attended two care units in Cameroon for at least 6 months. Weight and height were measured and transferred to 2007 WHO curves for 5- to 19-year-olds. Stunting was defined by a height for age z-score less than -2 standard deviations. Wasting was defined by a BMI z-score for age less than -2 standard deviations. Pubertal development was assessed using Tanner stages. We looked into the association between HIV infection characteristics, HAART regimen, and growth/puberty abnormalities with multivariate analysis. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare median values with a p-value ≤0.05. RESULTS: The median age was 13 (11.2-14.7) years. Stunting affected 44% of the children. Wasting affected 9.7% of the adolescents. The age at onset of puberty was in the normal range in both boys and girls. Adolescents aged 12-14 years (OR 3.4 [95% CI, 1.3-8.8], p=0.012) with a past history of opportunistic infection and taking HAART with protease inhibitors were more likely to have stunting. CONCLUSION: In the Cameroonian setting, growth was mainly affected by stunting, but pubertal development was normal in all patients. This may reflect the benefits of HAART in children with HIV infection.
