Causes of Hospitalization and Predictors of Mortality among Adult HIV Positive Patients at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi

Introduction: HIV/AIDS is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Africa, opportunistic infections are the leading causes of morbidity among HIV patients and there is need to establish the causes of morbidity and/or mortality among the patients in our environment.

Methods: This was a retrospective study in which the case files of adult HIV positive patients admitted from January 2018 to December 2018 were retrieved. Their socio-demographic profile, HIV stage at admission, outcomes and other relevant information were extracted. The Center for Disease Control staging for HIV was used for the study.

Results: A total of 94 patients were enrolled into the study. At admission, most of the patients, 57(61%) were in CDC Stage B while the remaining patients were in stage C. Pulmonary tuberculosis was responsible for most of the admissions.

The total number of deaths were 27 giving a mortality ratio of 28.7%; 9 (33%) of them were in stage B and the remaining 18 (67%) were in stage C. The predictors of mortality were male sex, short duration of admission, substance use and referral from non-specialist centres.

Conclusion: The major disease cause of morbidity among PLHIV in Makurdi is Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Male sex, substance use, referral from non-specialist centres and short duration of admission were significant predictors of mortality. All stakeholders involved in HIV care should intensify efforts at early HIV diagnosis, scale up HAART where necessary and implement task shifting at non-specialist centres to improve treatment outcomes.