Table 1 Characteristics of patients in HIV care in a rural and an urban clinic, Zomba District, Malawi

Number of patients

952

472 (49.6)

480 (50.4)

  Female

683 (71.7)

334 (70.8)

349 (72.7)

0.505

  Male

269 (28.3)

138 (29.2)

131 (27.3

Age in years (N = 952)

0.250

  18–34

210 (22.1)

111 (23.5)

99 (20.6)

  35–44

361 (37.9)

182 (38.6)

179 (37.3)

  45–54

238 (25.0)

105 (22.3)

133 (27.7)

   ≥ 55

143 (15.0)

74 (15.7)

69 (14.4)

Mean age (SD) in years

43.0 (10.2)

42.7 (10.6)

43.2 (9.8)

0.471

  None

204 (21.5)

143 (30.3)

61 (12.7)

<0.001

  Standard 1–8

576 (60.6)

283 (60.0)

293 (61.2)

  Secondary & above

171 (18.0)

46 (9.8)

125 (26.1)

Household size mean (SD)

2.58 (1.26)

2.55 (1.17)

2.62 (1.35)

0.401

  Employed

112 (11.8)

17 (3.6)

95 (19.8)

<0.001

  Unemployed

255 (26.8)

38 (8.1)

217 (45.2)

  Self Employed

585 (61.5)

417 (88.4)

168 (35.0)

  Vigorously active

854 (89.7)

458 (97.0)

396 (82.5)

<0.001

  Moderately active

90 (9.5)

11 (2.3)

79 (16.5)

  Inactive individuals

8 (0.8)

3 (0.6)

5 (1.0)

  Mean days of fruit consumption/wk (SD)

2.63 (2.06)

2.31 (1.87)

2.98 (2.20)

<0.001

  Mean servings of fruit/day (SD)

1.25 (0.76)

1.20 (0.74)

1.31 (0.79)

0.028

  Mean days of vegetables consumption/wk (SD)

5.13 (1.95)

4.51 (1.88)

5.73 (1.83)

<0.001

  Mean servings of vegetables/day (SD)

1.81 (0.49)

1.77 (0.50)

1.85 (0.47)

0.006

  Ever smoked tobacco

117 (12.3)

50 (10.6)

67 (14.0)

0.114

  Current tobacco smokers

34 (3.6)

19 (4.3)

15 (3.1)

0.454

  Daily tobacco smoker

25 (2.6)

15 (3.2)

10 (2.1)

0.291

  Current smokeless tobacco users

21 (2.2)

15 (3.2)

6 (1.3)

0.041

  Used alcohol in the past 30 days (current drinker)

61 (6.4)

33 (7.0)

28 (5.8)

0.466

  Used alcohol in the past 12 months

97 (10.2)

56 (11.9)

41 (8.5)

0.090

  Yes

41 (4.3)

26 (5.5)

15 (3.1)

0.070

  No

909 (95.7)

445 (94.5)

464 (96.9)

  Yes

211 (22.2)

113 (24.0)

98 (20.5)

0.190

  No

739 (77.8)

358 (76.0)

381 (79.5)

  On ART

913 (95.9)

443 (93.9)

470 (97.9)

0.002

  Pre-ART

39 (4.1)

29 (6.1)

10 (2.1)

Mean HIV infection duration (SD), months

55.4 (31.7)

49.7 (32.2)

61.0 (30.2)

<0.001

Mean ART duration (SD), months

47.7 (29.3)

42.1 (29.0)

53.0 (28.7)

<0.001

CD4 count at ART initiation, mean (SD) (n = 632)

217.5 (114.6)

216.9 (121.0)

218.1 (108.2)

0.898

  WHO Stage 1

275 (30.1)

171 (38.6)

104 (22.1)

<0.001

  WHO Stage 2

306 (33.5)

139 (31.4)

167 (35.5)

  WHO Stage 3

270 (29.5)

110 (24.8)

160 (34.0)

  WHO Stage 4

63 (6.9)

23 (5.2)

40 (8.5)

  2A^a

107 (11.7)

33 (7.5)

74 (15.7)

<0.001

  5A^b

775 (84.9)

397 (89.6)

378 (80.4)

  Other

31 (3.4)

13 (2.9)

18 (3.8)

Mean BMI (SD), kg/m2

21.9 (3.4)

21.3 (3.2)

22.6 (3.6)

<0.001

  Under weight (<18.5 kg/m²)

102 (10.7)

65 (13.8)

37 (7.7)

<0.001

  Normal (18.5–25 kg/m²)

682 (71.6)

349 (73.9)

333 (69.4)

  Over weight (>25–30 kg/m²)

132 (13.9)

45 (9.5)

87 (18.1)

  Obesity (>30 kg/m²)

36 (3.8)

13 (2.8)

23 (4.8)

  High

249 (26.9)

122 (27.1)

127 (26.6)

0.867

  Normal

678 (73.1)

328 (72.9)

350 (73.4)

Normal (negative or trace)

928 (97.9)

470 (99.6)

458 (97.9)

0.001

  1+

13 (1.4)

2 (0.4)

11 (2.3)

  2+

7 (0.7)

0

7 (1.5)