CONOCIMIENTOS, ACTITUDES Y PRáCTICAS ALIMENTARIAS EN PACIENTES DIAGNOSTICADOS CON VIH EN TRATAMIENTO FARMACOLóGICO

background. research related to nutritional habits during the asymptomatic phase of hiv has not been well documented or is very scarce; this would include understanding the importance of nutritional status regarding disease progression and that suitable nutritional status may slow transition to symptomatic stages or aids stage. no studies have yet been carried out in colombia describing nutritional habits in hiv-positive patients who have been receiving pharmacological treatment; no records have thus been kept and no advances have been made regarding this topic. objective. describing nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practice in asymptomatic patients diagnosed as suffering from clinical phase hiv infection receiving pharmacological treatment. materials and methods. a descriptive exploratory study was carried out using a care and prevention (cap)-based approach; the survey was voluntarily filled out by 108 patients who were attending outpatient consultation in two private institutions in bogotá. results. three components were analysed in the 108 surveys. knowledge. 58.7% of the patients referred to having received information about what their diet should have been like; 32.3% had their diet supplied by a nutritionist. fibre was the main component taken into account when choosing food (65%) and protein was considered to be the most beneficial nutrient (52%). attitude: 61.8% of the patients stated that their diagnosis hampered selecting and buying food due to a lack of information. appetite had not undergone changes in 49.5% of the participants following reflecting on their diagnosis. practice. 75% of the patients recognised the importance of consuming nutritional supplements and complements; however, only 35.7% of them took them. when buying industrialised/processed food, 66.4% of the patients verified the products' expiry date and/or nutritional data on the label. conclusions. the food customarily consumed by the patients was that forming part of the average colom