Social factors and lifestyle attributes associated with nutritional status of people living with HIV/AIDS attending care and treatment clinics in Ilala district, Dar es Salaam

Objective: Tanzania is one of the countries that suffer huge burden of malnutrition and food poverty with over two million people living with HIV/AIDS. Despite ongoing nutritional interventions in care and treatment clinics for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), a high proportion of them still face nutritional problems, with about 29% being underweight. This study therefore aimed assessing social factors and lifestyle attributes associated with nutritional status among adults living with HIV/AIDS and attending care and treatment clinics(CTCs) in an urban district in Tanzania.Methods: An interview schedule was administered to 412 randomly selected adult male and female clients attending different CTCs in Ilala district. Their anthropometric measurements i.e. body weights and heights were also taken.Results: Findings revealed that 18.4% of males and females were underweight according to their body mass indices. The risk of being underweight was higher among respondents who were young; who had never married; had no formal education as well as those who reported to be living with their families or friends, although these associations were not statistically significant. On the other hand, factors which had statistically significant association with nutritional status included the type of persons the client was living with and the habit ofdrinking alcohol.Conclusion: From the findings we conclude that PLWHA attending Care and Treatment Clinics in Ilala district, Dar es Salaam have problems with their nutrition with underweight being common among them. This suggests that the existing care and treatment clinics that provide nutritional support to PLWHA do not appear to address these issues in their totality. There is therefore, need to ensure that more efforts are geared towards providing nutritional counseling, support and encouragement of these clients within social contexts of their livesso in order for the current efforts to give best results.Key words: HIV, nutritional status, body mass inde

Menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer: what is the true size of the increased risk?

Background Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) increases breast cancer risk; however, most cohort studies omit MHT use after enrolment and many infer menopausal age. Methods We used information from serial questionnaires from the UK Generations Study cohort to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for breast cancer among post-menopausal women with known menopausal age, and examined biases induced when not updating data on MHT use and including women with inferred menopausal age. Results Among women recruited in 2003–2009, at 6 years of follow-up, 58 148 had reached menopause and 96% had completed a follow-up questionnaire. Among 39 183 women with known menopausal age, 775 developed breast cancer, and the HR in relation to current oestrogen plus progestogen MHT use (based on 52 current oestrogen plus progestogen MHT users in breast cancer cases) relative to those with no previous MHT use was 2.74 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.05–3.65) for a median duration of 5.4 years of current use, reaching 3.27 (95% CI: 1.53–6.99) at 15þ years of use. The excess HR was underestimated by 53% if oestrogen plus progestogen MHT use was not updated after recruitment, 13% if women with uncertain menopausal age were included, and 59% if both applied. The HR for oestrogen-only MHT was not increased (HR¼1.00; 95% CI: 0.66–1.54). Conclusions Lack of updating MHT status through follow-up and inclusion of women with inferred menopausal age is likely to result in substantial underestimation of the excess relative risks for oestrogen plus progestogen MHT use in studies with long follow-up, limited updating of exposures, and changing or short durations of use.</p