Nutrition Education Intervention for PLHIV (202372)

United Arab Emirates University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Nutritional Deficiency; Hiv

Treatments: Behavioral: Nutrition education sessions

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06595225

202372

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study tested two hypotheses, which are mentioned below:

Hypotheses: The project will test 5 hypotheses related to the various aspects of the study.

H1: implementing a nutrition education intervention will significantly improve the patient's nutritional knowledge, dietary practices, and attitudes (KAP) post-6 months of intervention.

H2: implementing a nutrition education intervention will significantly improve the patients' food intake of immune-boosting foods, physical activity levels, anthropometric measurements, nutrition-related biochemical biomarkers, and mental health status, post the intervention period.

Note: H2 is a complex hypothesis consisting of 5 sub-hypotheses corresponding to the five mentioned measurements (food intake of immune-boosting foods, physical activity levels, anthropometric measurements, nutrition-related biochemical biomarkers, and mental health status). Each of these sub-hypotheses will be statistically tested.

Full description

The intervention was guided by the Health Belief model. The topics to be covered and the content of the educational program were designed with input from dietitians working with PLHIV to ensure the relevance for the target participants. Participants randomized into the intervention group received individualized sessions with a registered dietitian once a month for 6 months. During the sessions, the dietitian elaborated on the medical nutrition therapy for each participant which consists of nutritional diagnosis and nutritional counseling services. Topics covered include general nutrition knowledge, MyPlate food groups, immune-boosting foods and nutrients, improving physical activity levels, the nutritional aspects of the existing co-morbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, etc. The intervention provided by the dietitian (primary investigator) which was guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM) which suggests that an individual's beliefs about health threats, perceived benefits of acting, and perceived barriers to acting are key determinants of health-related behaviors. Each session lasted for approximately 30-45 minutes through virtual platforms or in-person, or a combination of both, using several teaching tools such as discussions, demonstrations, educational materials, and educational videos.

The participants were met with online once per month and they were followed up on weekly basis on Whatsapp to reinforce the last session message.

Enrollment: 63 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria

The inclusion criteria were patients of:

• more or equal to 18 years of age;
• Who have the virus with or without any co-morbidities;
• And who give consent to participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who are imprisoned;
• And/or refuse to participate were excluded.

Disclaimer: prisoners were excluded as their confinement and lack of access will hinder them from receiving the intervention.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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63 participants in 2 patient groups

Nutrition Education Sessions Group

Experimental group

Description:

this group received nutrition education sessions each month for a period of 6 months. Where they were followed up once a week via Whatsapp, reminded of the previous session's message and had their questions answered.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Nutrition education sessions

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

this group did not receive the intervention that the experimental group received