Abstract:

Background: Hypogonadism is frequent among HIV-infected males and might have significant clinical impact leading to sexual impairment and metabolic derangement. There is limited information about the magnitude of hypogonadism and its associated factors among people living with HIV in Tanzania.

We aimed to determine the prevalence of hypogonadism and associated risk factors among newly diagnosed ART naïve HIV-infected men in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Methods: Newly diagnosed ART naïve HIV-infected men were enrolled at Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centres of four selected hospitals in the Mwanza region and subjected to thorough clinical and general physical examination including anthropometric measurements. A prestructured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic characteristics and clinical data. Serum total testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and estradiol were estimated. Serum total testosterone <300 ng/dl or testosterone >300 ng/dl with high LH and FSH (compensatory hypogonadism) was taken as markers of hypogonadism. Data were analyzed using STATA version 15.

Results: Of the 388 enrolled participants, hypogonadism was found in 47.9%, with secondary hypogonadism (83.9%, 156/186) being the most frequent form. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between hypogonadism and CD4+ count (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.1–3.6; p = 0.022), decreased libido (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.1–2.4; p = 0.024), age of above 46 years (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1–4.6; p = 0.023), herbal medicine use (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.5–3.9; p < 0.001), WHO clinical stage 3 (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.4–5.2; p = 0.003), and weight loss (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1–3.0; p = 0.016).

Conclusion: Hypogonadism was found in nearly half (47.9%) of ART naïve HIV-infected men. The majority (83.9%) had secondary hypogonadism. There was a significant association of hypogonadism with older age, herbal medicine use, weight loss, advanced clinical stage, CD4+ count, and decreased libido.