Nutrition Knowledge and Practice of Dietary Diversity among People Living with HIV in a Resource-Limited Setting: a Multi-Center Study

Introduction: Adequate nutrition plays a major role in delaying disease progression and improving quality of life of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). Therefore, it is important to assess their nutrition knowledge and practice of dietary diversity, especially in resource-limited settings, where most HIV infections occur. Aim of the study was to assess the nutrition knowledge and dietary diversity practice of PLHIV in a resource-limited setting. Material and methods: This was a health facility-based cross-sectional analytical study conducted at two tertiary HIV clinics in Enugu, Nigeria. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 370 adult HIV patients were recruited. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with good nutrition knowledge and high dietary diversity among respondents. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Good nutrition knowledge was observed in 69.7% of the respondents, while 60.0% had high dietary diversity. In multivariate analysis, secondary educational level (AOR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.29-0.97; p = 0.040) and earning a family monthly income of 31,000-60,000 (AOR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.11-4.06; p = 0.024) were predictors of good nutrition knowledge. Number of children in a household (AOR: 2.09; 95% CI: 1.19-3.67) was predictive of high dietary diversity. Conclusions: Educational level and family monthly income are predictors of nutrition knowledge, while number of children in a household is a predictor of dietary diversity. Nutrition education should be incorporated into HIV care program targeting those with low educational levels and low family monthly incomes for improvement of their nutrition knowledge.