The Impact of a Health Promotion Educational Program on Cardiovascular Risk Factors for HIV Infected Women on Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract

This study investigates the efficacy of a health promotion educational program on improving cardiovascular risk factors of weight, Body Mass Index, and waist to hip ratio in 76 predominately African American HIV-infected women. The health promotion educational program was the control group (that focused on improving self-efficacy for nutrition, exercise, stress reduction and women's health behaviors) of a NIH-funded study. The majority of participants was overweight, obese, or at high risk based on waist hip ratio at the beginning of the study. There were no statistically significant improvements in body mass index or waist hip ratio from pre intervention to up to 9 months post intervention. There were significant changes in waist hip ratio and body mass index in both directions (improvement and worsened) for a small group of participants. The health promotion program did not affect significant changes in cardiovascular risk and should be revised, lengthened, and refocused on nutrition, diet, exercise, and long term goal commitments to reduce the high risk for cardiovascular disease in this group.

Keywords: Antiretroviral therapy; Cardiovascular risk; HIV; HIV infected women.