EFFECT OF NUTRITION EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES (KAP) OF NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (PLHIV) IN A SPECIALIST HOSPITAL IN ENUGU

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of nutrition education on knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of nutritional guidelines for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in a Specialist Hospital in Enugu, Nigeria using Quasi-experimental design. Annually, 600 people living with HIV register for antiretroviral therapy at the HAART centre in the hospital. Out of this, 30% (180) {108(60%) females and 72(40%) males} was selected by purposive sampling technique and used for the study. Nutritional Guidelines outlined by various stakeholders for the PLHIV guided the structuring of the questions contained in the questionnaire used in the study. The reliability of the instrument was tested among PLHIV attending Enugu State Teaching Hospital (ESUT), Parklane, Enugu. The result shows that Chronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.806) indicated a very strong reliability. Apart from demographic data, the questionnaire contained three sections which include knowledge section, attitude section and practice section. Each of the sections contains its specific related questions which were used for pretest and post test nutrition education evaluation among the respondents. Nutrition education activities in this study were conducted by using discussion and demonstration techniques. In post test nutrition education evaluation, the same set of validated structured questionnaire were used to determine the effect of nutrition education on the respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of the nutritional guidelines for the PLHIV as well as the association between nutrition education and each of these variables. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Service Solution (version 21) (SPSS). Descriptive statistics which include frequency, percentages, means and standard deviations were used to present the data collected on the variables. Similarly, t-test was used to separate means. The findings revealed that in pretest nutrition education evaluation, majority of the respondents had poor knowledge score (98.1%), good attitude score (73.1%), and poor practice score (96.6%) respectively. Then, in post nutrition education evaluation, the majority of the respondents had good knowledge score (80.2%), good attitude score (96.1%), and good practice score (87.3%) respectively. This study revealed that there was more improvement on the respondents’ attitude towards the nutritional guidelines for the PLHIV after their exposure to nutrition education activities. The findings from this study also show that there was translation of nutrition related knowledge to practice by the respondents after their exposure to nutrition education. This confirms that nutrition education had positive effect on the respondents’ knowledge of the nutritional guidelines for the PLHIV. In addition, this study shows that respectively, there is significant (p< 0.001) associations between nutrition education and the respondents’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of the nutritional guidelines for the PLHIV. Odd ratio was used to determine the magnitude of the association between nutrition education and the respondents’ attitude towards the nutritional guidelines for PLHIV. And it revealed that the PLHIV who were exposed to nutrition education activities had 9 times more chances of having better attitude towards the nutritional guidelines for the PLHIV than those who were not exposed to nutrition education activities. Hence, nutrition education should be incorporated in the nutritional care package provided for the PLHIV in various HAART centers so as to educate them properly on various areas of nutrition that will help them utilize the provided nutritional guidelines for better management of their health condition.