Characteristics and factors associated with the clinical forms of lipoatrophy during highly active antiretroviral therapy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Background: We aimed to study the factors associated with clinical forms of lipoatrophy in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Yalgado Ouédraogo Teaching Hospital, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Methods: This cross-sectional review from March 10 to November 10, 2011, included a nonprobability sample of HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral (ARV) medications for at least 6 months and monitored in the internal medicine department. The diagnosis of lipoatrophy was clinical.

Results: Three hundred patients were included. The sex ratio was 0.4 and the mean age was 42.1 ± 8.5 years. The mean duration of HAART was 73.2 ± 30.9 months. In all, 97 (32.3%) patients had lipoatrophy: 75 (25%) isolated and 22 (7.3%) mixed syndrome. Facial lipoatrophy was frequent (61.8%). Isolated lipoatrophy was associated with male sex (P = .002) and body mass index ≤25 (P < .05). Mixed syndrome was associated with female sex (P = .002), age >42 years (P < .05), physical activity (P = .003), smoking (P = .001), stavudine (d4T; P = .0001), or protease inhibitors (P = .01).

Conclusion: Prevention of lipoatrophy associated with HAART requires the exclusion of modifiable risk factors that we identified.