• David K Tumusiime, Emmanuel Musabeyezu, Eugene Mutimurah, Donald R Hoover, Qiuhu Shi, Emmanuel Rudakemwa, Victorien Ndacyayisenga, Jean Claude Dusingize, Jean D'Amour Sinayobye, Aimee Stewart, Francois W D Venter, and Kathryn Anastos.
• University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and Kigali Health Institute, Kigali, Rwanda; dtumusime@khi.ac.rw.
• Afr Health Sci. 2014 Jun 1; 14 (2): 460-7.

BackgroundPeripheral neuropathy symptoms (PNS) are commonly manifested in HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals, although data are limited on the prevalence and predictors of PNS in HIV+ patients from sub-Saharan Africa.ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and predictors of PNS in HIV+ and HIV-uninfected (HIV-) Rwandan women.MethodsData were analysed from 936 (710 HIV+ and 226 HIV-) women from the Rwanda Women Interassociation Study and Assessment (RWISA), an observational prospective cohort study investigating the effectiveness and toxicity of ART in HIV+ women.ResultsOf 936 enrolled, 920 (98.3%) were included in this analysis with 44% of HIV- and 52% of the HIV+ women reporting PNS (p=0.06). CD4+ count was not associated with PNS, although there was a non-significant trend towards higher prevalence in those with lower CD4+ counts. For the HIV- women, only alcohol and co-trimoxazole use were independently associated with PNS. WHO HIV stage IV illness and albumin ≤ 3.5 were associated with PNS in HIV+ women.ConclusionsThe rate of peripheral neuropathy symptoms reported in this cohort of HIV-infected African women seems implausible, and rather suggests that the screening tool for peripheral neuropathy in culturally diverse African settings be locally validated.

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