CD4 count improvement as result of enhanced wellbeing of HIV/AIDS patients

Abstract

The CD4 T-cell count is an important laboratory indicator of the immune status in patients with HIV/AIDS. It is used in decision making to determine when antiretroviral therapy and a need of prophylaxis for opportunistic infections should be initiated. This study was carried out to assess the contribution of donor funded projects to the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS as measured by improvement of CD4 count. A total of 120 respondents were randomly selected from Morogoro urban and Kilombero district, Tanzania. Based on panel data, individual observations were made four times across time and there were a total of 480 observations. The home based care TUNAJALI project provided various interventions including medical care and psychological support with the purpose of improving the health status of people living with HIV/AIDS. The effect of home based care TUNAJALI services was the only predictor of health status of people living with HIV/AIDS that was measured as an improvement of CD4 count over time. The average CD4 count before, one year, two years of home based care, and during the study were: 193.86; 258.83 (25.1%); 375.72 (31.2%); 487.57 respectively. A positive relationship was observed between home based care services and well-being. The findings from the present study show that the home based care positively improved the well-being of HIV/AIDS patients in the studied population. Improved wellbeing also improved CD4 count in patients.