| dc.description.abstract | The study involved 160 patients attending the ante-natal
clinic of Pumwani Maternity Hospital between February and April,
1990. Of these 80 (50%) were confirmed to be HIV infected (referred
to as cases) and the other 80 (50%) were not (referred as
controls). In the cases, 60(75%) and in the controls, 59(73.8%)
were between the ages 20-28 years.
The only risk behaviour for HIV infection appeared to be
heterosexual contact. with the controls, 71 (88.8%) were married
whereas 8(10%) were single. with the cases, 65(81.25%) were married
and 15(18.75%) were single. They were predominantly of low social economic
status.Only 3(3.80%) of the controls, and 1(1.25%) of the
cases,had attained A-Ievel (form six) education and above. Out of
the 160 examined,there was only one graduate. All patients examined
were in group 2 i.e asymptomatic infection, according to Centres
for Disease Control classification.
The number of controls with oral candidiasis was 22 (27.5%)
compared to 50 (62.5%) ln the cases(P=0.0003). A total of 14(17.5%)
of the controls had bacterial infections i.e . gingivitis and
periodontitis, whereas 42 (52.5%) of the cases had similar
infections(P=O.OOOl). Eighteen (22.5%) of the controls had
hyperpigmentation of the oral cavity mucosa compared to 38 (47.5%)
of the cases(P=0.0016f. There were five(6.3%) of the cases who had
herpetic stomatitis and non in the controls, whereas there were
eight(10.2%) of the cases with hairy leukoplakia-like lesions and
two(2.5%) of the controls had similar lesions(P=0.0141). There were
15 (18.8%) of the cases who had lesions with clinical features of
kaposi's sarcoma but this was not confirmed histologically. Two
individuals in the control had such lesions also(P=O.0021). These
lesions were predominantly in the palate. A few of the individuals
in the study were involved in habits which are known to have an
effect in the oral cavity but the numbers were too small to be of
any statistical importance. For example, twelve individuals(four
controls and eight cases) admitted that they drink alcohol, three
cases were mirra chewers, two cases were smokers and one control
was using unspecified drugs habitually. There were no cases of
aphthous ulcerations but two controls and one case had xerostomia.
Oral Candidiasis, Periodontal Disease (Gingivitis and
Periodontitis) and Hyperpigmentation were all associated with
asymptomatic HIV infection. | en |
| dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |
