Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: February | Volume: 9 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 191-196
Tobacco Smoking and Its Determinants in HIV Infected Patients under Antiretroviral Therapy in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Ben BepoukaIzizag1, Hippolyte Situakibanza1, Aliocha Nkodila2, Florian Kiazayawoko Zola1
1Service of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, DRC
2Cité des Aveugles Medical Center, Kinshasa, DRC
Corresponding Author: Ben BepoukaIzizag
ABSTRACT
Background: Tobacco smoking is one of the major public health threats and may reverse the improvement in immune status that is achieved from antiretroviral therapy (ART). The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence and determinants of tobacco smoking among Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients under ART in Kinshasa, DRC.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 patients under ART attending the 9 support structures of Kinshasa. Data were summarized using proportions and χ2 test was used to explore associations between categorical variables. Predictors of tobacco smoking were determined by multiple logistic regression. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: The prevalence of current cigarette smoking among HIV patients was 8 %. Multivariate analysis shows that male gender [Adjusted Odds Ratio 2,3; 95% Confidence Interval:1,08 -5,05; p=0,031], alcohol drinking[AOR 3,8; 95% CI:1,58-9,25;p=0,003] and food insecurity[AOR 3,3;95% CI:1,38-8,14;p=0,031] were positively associated with tobacco smoking.
Conclusions: The prevalence of tobacco smoking among HIV infected patients in Kinshasa was high. Therefore, smoking should be discouraged in people living with HIV to reduce their morbidity and mortality.
Key words: Tobacco smoking, determinants, HIV infected patients