Evaluation Of haematological parameters including prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time of patients on antiretroviral therapy in federal medical Centre, Keffi, Nasarawa state, northcentral Nigeria

Background: Haematological parameters including prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time of HIV/AIDS patients on Anti Retroviral Therapy may be a manifestation of disease suppression and / or side effects of drugs.
Objective: This study evaluated the haematological parameters including prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time of adults HIV/AIDS patients on ART and compared with the negative control groups at Federal Medical Centre Keffi, Nasarawa State.
Materials and Methods: This was a case - control study involving consented 73 tests on ART and 73 HIV negative individuals who were recruited through systematic random sampling technique. Semi- structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to evaluate their socio demographic characteristics. Venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for the above haematological, PT and APTTK parameters using Sysmex KX21 automated analyze and manual method respectively. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was taken as statistical significant.
Results: The mean age and standard deviation of the tests and the control groups was 3.30± 10.40 years and 36.20 ± 11.70 years respectively. There were more females in both the tests (64.8%) and the control groups (56.2%) than male. The study showed a statistical significant higher leucopenia (17.8%) and neutropenia (20.5%) on the tests as compared with the control groups while anemia (45.1%) was the commonest haematological abnormalities observed in the tests on ART. The results of the clotting profile showed that thrombocytopenia (26.0%), APTT (53.4%) and PT (34.2%) were significantly more prevalent in the tests compared with the control group (P<0.05). There were Leucopenia, Neutropenia, Anemia, Thrombocytopenia and abnormalities in PT and APTT of the tests as compared to the control groups.
Conclusion: The results showed that participants on ART had haematological abnormalities as compared to the control group. This may guide the stake holders on appropriate decision towards better management of the patients.