Prevalence, patterns and factors associated with ocular findings among adolescents living with HIV at the Baylor College of Medicine Mulago.

Abstract

Introduction Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In 2021, 38.4 million people were living with HIV/AIDS globally, including 1.71 million adolescents. Despite the understanding that HIV can impact various organs, including the eyes and cause blindness, few studies have been conducted to describe the prevalence, patterns, and factors associated with ocular findings of HIV in adolescents, particularly in Africa and specifically in Uganda. General objective: To determine the prevalence, patterns, and factors associated with ocular findings among adolescents living with HIV at the Baylor College of Medicine Mulago. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine in Mulago. Adolescents aged 10-19 were recruited consecutively. Data were collected on the history, clinical examination, and ocular findings using an interviewer-administered, pre-tested questionnaire and entered into EpiData 4.2, which was then exported to STATA 15 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were presented as means and standard deviations (SD), frequencies, and proportions. Factors associated with the outcome were assessed using a modified Poisson regression model to obtain prevalence ratios, along with their corresponding P-values and 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 341 adolescents with HIV were recruited. Most participants were females 179 (52.5%), aged 15-19 years 198 (58.1%). The prevalence of at least one abnormal ocular finding in HIV was 17%, (n=57). In this study, most of the abnormal ocular findings were found on the conjunctiva (n=41, 72%) and optic disc (9, 17%). Other ocular findings included abnormal retinal findings (n=3, 0%) patients and maculopathies (n=3, 5%) patients among others. Adolescents who had a high viral load were 53% less likely (PR=0.47; p=0.049) to have ocular findings than those with a suppressed viral load. Conclusion and recommendations: In this study, the prevalence of ocular findings was 17%. We recommend that the adolescents should continue adhering to their treatment and care. Since our study found ocular findings in states of low viremia and normal CD4 which is contrary to what has been found in previous studies, we recommend another study, probably a longitudinal study on a larger sample size to further establish the association of the viral load with ocular findings.