| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2023 | Volume
: 68
| Issue : 2 | Page : 127-134 |
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The correlation between anthropometric variables and muscular strength in patients coinfected with leprosy and HIV
Diego Vinicius da Costa Novais1, Mariana Garcia Borges do Nascimento1, Geovanna Lemos Lopes1, João Augusto Gomes de Souza Monteiro de Brito2, Thomaz Xavier Carneiro1, Givago Silva Souza1, Marília Brasil Xavier3
1 From the Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
2 Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade do Estado do Pará (UEPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
3 From the Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA); Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade do Estado do Pará (UEPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
Correspondence Address:
Marília Brasil Xavier
Research Laboratory in Tropical Dermatology and Endemic Diseases, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil, Generalíssimo Deodoro Ave, 92, Umarizal, Belém - 66055-240, Pará
Brazil
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijd.ijd_799_22
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Background: Peripheral nerve disease may lead to physical disability because of decreased muscle strength and/or loss of sensitivity in the dermatomes of affected peripheral nerves. Both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- and leprosy-affected patients can develop neurological damage; therefore, the coinfection of these diseases presents new challenges to the health care of these patients. Aims and Objective: This study aimed to investigate the motor alterations of patients coinfected with HIV and leprosy and their relationship with clinical and anthropometric characteristics, compared with individuals with isolated diseases. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 90 individuals were divided equally into three groups: HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) group, leprosy group and HIV/leprosy group. All individuals underwent an evaluation of muscle strength and upper limb endurance adjusted for the Brazilian standards, a palm print pressure test using a digital dynamometer and anthropometric measurements (weight, height and skin folds). Results: The HIV/leprosy group had the highest mean body mass index, followed by the leprosy group and the HIV/AIDS group. Skinfolds were similar between the groups. Multiple linear regression, adjusted for sex and age, revealed the coinfection of HIV and leprosy as possible contributor to a worse prognosis of muscle function, highlighting the bilateral reduction in the levels of palm print compression strengths compared with isolated diseases (HIV and leprosy). High CD4 count and shorter antiretroviral therapy duration were associated with worse indices of muscle strength, such as gripping and resistance, in coinfected patients. Conclusion: Patients coinfected with HIV and leprosy exhibited greater motor damage than those with isolated diseases. Thus, motor damage may be related to the sum of the neurological manifestations of the two morbidities.
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