Physical Activity and Risk Factors Screening For Ischaemic Heart Disease in South African Individuals Living With HIV - Physical Activity and Risk Factors Screening For Ischaemic Heart Disease in South African Individuals Living With HIV - Open Access Pub

People living with HIV (PLWH) are at risk of developing chronic lifestyle diseases such as ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for IHD. The level of ambulation physical activity in individuals living with HIV in a South African context is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the physical activity levels and other risk factors for IHD in PLWH on antiretroviral therapy (ARV). An observational study was conducted from October 2010 to June 2012 at an outpatient clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa. Two hundred and five individuals who were on ARV for 6-12 months were screened. Physical activity was measured with the Yamax SW200 pedometer over a seven day period. Physical activity of the sample was reduced at 7673.2 (±4017.7) steps/ day with women walking less than men 6993.3 (±3462.6) and 10076.3 (±4885.6)respectively. Body mass index was increased to 25.6 (±5.4) kg/m2 with women noted to be overweight [26.6 (±5.5) kg/m2]. Independent predictors of being overweight were systolic blood pressure, waist and hip circumference, CD4 count and daily fruit and vegetable intake. Smoking was less common in the study population with 16.1% of the sample being current smokers and 25.9% former smokers. Individuals’ mean perceived stress levels were 19.9 (±7.8) on the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. The ambulation physical activity level of individuals living with HIV requires modification to assist with reducing risk factors of IHD. DOI10.14302/issn.2324-7339.jcrhap-13-255 People living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) are living longer since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) 1. South Africa's health care face a quadruple burden of disease between chronic lifestyle diseases, HIV, perinatal and maternal disease and violence related injuries 2, 3. An estimated 17.3% of South Africans were living with HIV according to the 2011 World prevalence rates of HIV and only Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho reported higher statistics 4. South Africa has managed to increase the roll-out of ARV and two million individuals are on ARV currently 5. This increase in ARV roll-out could alter the future causes of mortality in South Africa shifting the focus from communicable diseases to a more pronounced non-communicable diseases pattern such as ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and/or stoke. Chronic lifestyle diseases are of concern as mortality in individuals living with HIV is slowly shifting to non-aids related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease 6, 7. This shift could partially be explained by the