Author(s)

David Chelo^1,2*, Eulalie Landrine Moguon Fondjo³, Pierre Fotsing Kwetche³, Séraphin Nguefack^2,4, Félicitée Nguefack^2,4, Suzanne Ngo Um^1,2, Georges Nguefack Tsague⁵

¹Mother and Child Centre, Chantal BIYA Foundation, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
²Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
³Faculty of Health Sciences, Banganté, Cameroon.
⁴Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁵Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Background: HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on child growth. Assessing the growth of infected children is an important part of the overall care of these children which in turn improves the monitoring and prognosis of the disease. The purpose of the study was to describe and compare the growth of children living with HIV with those not infected and to identify the associated factors. Method: This was an analytical case control study conducted in a pediatric hospital, Yaoundé from January 25^th to June 20^th 2019. Our study population consisted of 164 children with an age range from 06 weeks to 19 years old of which we had 41 HIV-infected cases and 123 uninfected controls matched by sex and age plus or minus 02 months. Anthropometric parameters were measured according to the standards described by the WHO. The data was entered and analyzed using Epi info 3.5.4, WHO Anthro and WHO Anthropoplus softwares. The chi-square and the Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare qualitative variables, with a significance threshold set at P less than 5%. Results: Of the 41 cases, 15 (36.6%) had at least one anthropometric index (weight for age, height for age, weight for height) < -2 Z score versus 05 for controls (4.1%). 36.6% of cases had growth retardation (Height for age < -2 Z score) compared to 4.1% in controls with a significant difference (p = 0.000). In 18.2% of cases, underweight was found (Weight for age < -2 Z score) with a significant difference compared to controls (p = 0.000). Wasting was present in 10% of infected children (P = 0.240). We found 7.3% obesity/overweight in cases and 25.2% in controls (P = 0.003). We did not find any associated factor with growth disorders in our study. Conclusion: Infected children are smaller in weight and size. After multivariate analysis, there remained a significant difference between cases and controls regarding stunting, obesity and overweight. No factors studied were associated with the growth disorders detected, which suggests that growth disorders in children and adolescents living with HIV are due to the disease itself. Hence the need for health workers is to strengthen the prevention of mother and child transmission and the monitoring of the growth of HIV-infected children in order to improve the long-term prognosis.

Growth, HIV/AIDS, Child, Adolescent, Yaoundé

Chelo, D. , Fondjo, E. , Kwetche, P. , Nguefack, S. , Nguefack, F. , Um, S. and Tsague, G. (2020) Growth and Associated Factors in Children and Adolescents Living with HIV/AIDS Followed at the Mother and Child Centre of the Chantal Biya Foundation, Yaoundé-Cameroon: A Case Control Study. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 10, 194-205. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2020.101019.