The effect of tuberculosis infection on the body composition of HIV positive adult patients on HAART in Johannesburg South Africa

Abstract

Both HIV and tuberculosis (TB) have been documented to have detrimental effects on the nutritional status of those infected and nutritional status is a strong predictor of disease progression and survival. Body composition measures can be used as a proxy for nutritional status and takes into account body fat, muscle and water. It constitutes Fat Mass(FM), Fat Free Mass (FFM), Total Body Water (TBW), Extracellular Water (ECW), Intracellular water (ICW), Daily Energy Expenditure (DEE), Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), phase angle and BMI which can be analysed as separate outcomes. Its use in evaluation of nutritional status has been reported to give more accurate results than the use of weight alone. We compared body composition measures and changes over a 12 month period in patients with HIV alone to patients with HIV and TB.