Assessments of hunger and/or appetite are common methods of screening for development of illnessrelated anorexia. There are limited data to determine whether these methods predict actual food intake in
persons with HIV disease. Therefore, the authors examined the relationship between self-reported food intake and subjective ratings of hunger and appetite in
31 adults with HIV infection. Participants also indicated presence of additional factors that can decrease amount of food eaten. Subjective ratings of appetite
and hunger correlated with each other but not with food intake. Twenty-four additional factors that can affect food intake were reported to be present. The most common were illness-related and factors such as
eating with friends or family. These results indicate that measures of hunger and appetite are not sufficient to screen for decreased food intake. Additional factors
that can affect food intake should also be included in a comprehensive assessment of adults with HIV infection.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69210/1/Assessment of Hunger and Appetite and Their Relationship to Food Intake in Persons with HIV Infections.pd
