Ocular Manifestations and Socio-Demographic Factors among Adults on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in Enugu, Nigeria

HIV/AIDS is associated with systemic immune dysfunction which makes the body susceptible to certain opportunistic infections and tumours. The advent of HAART his know to provide some desired improvement leading to altered patterns of clinical finding which includes the ocular manifestations

Objective: To determine the socio-demographic association, frequency and types of ocular manifestations of HIV/AIDS in adult HIV positive patients in Enugu.

Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study. It comprised 331 randomly selected and consenting adult HIV positive patients on Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) at the retroviral disease clinic of UNTH Enugu, Nigeria. They had slit lamp examination of the anterior and posterior segment. Data was obtained using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was with SPSS version 21. Their demographic data, frequency and pattern of ocular manifestations were presented in frequency and percentages. A p-value of < 0.05 was used to define statistical significance at 95% confidence interval.

Results: The hospital prevalence of HIV related ocular manifestations was 18.4%. HIV microangiopathy was the commonest (18.8%). Posterior segment ocular manifestations were the commonest (37.7%) observed class of HIV ocular manifestations. Of those with HIV related ocular manifestations, only 33.3% had a previous history of eye problem. There was no statistically significant association between the socio-demographic variables and the ocular findings.

Conclusion: Pharmacotherapy has altered the overall clinical course of HIV/AIDS. However, HIV related ocular manifestations are still common, though no association was found between the demographic variables of the population and the ocular findings. We recommend that all patients on follow up in for HIV/AIDS should continue to adhere strictly to recommended HAART regimen.