Body Mass Index and its Influence on HIV Positive Patients: A Case Study of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital

Abstract

A cross-sectional study on the influence of HIV on the body mass index of HIV patients admitted in  Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State, with the objectives of (i) evaluating the relation between height and weight of HIV-positive patients, (ii) testing the impact of gender on the BMI of HIV-positive patients, (iii) verification of the relationship between BMI and age of HIV positive patients (iv)  verification of the statistical relationship between  BMI of males and females HIV positive patients and (v) the prediction of best-suited model for the explanation of the height value when the BMI and weight are known. The results obtained indicated that there is a statistically significant linear relation between the height and weight of HIV-positive patients. However, the Body Mass Index does not depend on gender, and there was no observable significant difference between the BMI of male and female patients. On the contrary, the dependence of BMI on the age of the HIV-positive patients was upheld. The study recommended periodic evaluation of the investigated and other factors among HIV patients.