Abstract
Background : Food insecurity and HIV/AIDS are intertwined in a vicious cycle through nutritional, mental health, and behavioral pathways. Food insecurity is a potentially important barrier to the success of antiretroviral treatment, increased hospitalizations, and higher morbidity among HIV-infected individuals in resource-poor settings particularly in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of food insecurity and its associated factors among adult people living with HIV/AIDS on follow up receiving ART at public hospitals of wollega zone, west Ethiopia. Methods : An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted on a sample of 428 among people living with HIV/AIDS on follow up receiving anti-retroviral therapy at public hospitals of wollega zones. Data was collected using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and dietary diversity scale by interviewer-administered questionnaires. The data was checked, cleaned and entered into Epi data version 3.1 and then exported into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) window version 21 for analysis. Descriptive statistics - cross-tabulation frequency table, mean, standard deviation, percentage, were employed. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used with AOR at CI 95% and p<0.05 were used. Result: The overall prevalence of food insecurity among PLWHA receiving ART therapy was 68.8% which was partitioned as mild (23.32%), moderate (29.09%) and severe (16.35%) food in secured. Being single [AOR=3.507(1.377, 8.934)], illiterate [AOR=5.234(1.747, 15.686)], cigarette smoking [AOR=3.577(2.104, 6.081)], presence of anemia (AOR=2.650(1.563, 4.493)] and inadequate dietary diversity [AOR=2.870(1.088, 7.569)] were predictors of food insecurity. Conclusion : The prevalence of food insecurity was relatively high. Educational status, marital status, cigarette smoking, presence of anemia, opportunistic infection and inadequate dietary diversity were the major significant factors affecting food insecurity. We recommended Wollega Zonal Health Bureaus to effectively intervene in behavioral modification and health information dissemination (HID) which is the key strategies to improve food security.