Stability of infant and child feeding index over time and its association with nutritional status of HIV exposed infants in Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A longitudinal study

•Infant and child feeding index was stable over time among HIV exposed infants in Ethiopia.•The longitudinal infant and child feeding index (L-ICFI) was significantly associated with length for age z score (LAZ )and weight for age z score (WAZ) but not significantly associated with weight for length z score (WLZ).•The rate of change of LAZ and WAZ was not significantly different across the L-ICFI tertiles.

BackgroundEven though many studies showed that infant and child feeding index has a statistically significant association with nutritional status, there is paucity of studies on stability of infant and child feeding index over time and its association with nutritional status of HIV exposed infants.AimsThis study aimed to investigate the stability of infant and child feeding index over time that is developed based on the current recommendations and its association with nutritional status of HIV exposed infants in Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia.Study designA panel study design was conducted in health institutions in Sidama Zone from February to July, 2012. Three repeated measurements of data were collected from each HIV exposed infant aged 6-17 months over the 6 month follow-up period approximately per 2 month interval.ResultsThe cross-sectional index was found stable overtime with the repeatability coefficient of 0.802 which differed significantly from zero (95% CI: 0.75-0.85). A longitudinal infant and child feeding index (L-ICFI) has a statistically significant association with length for age Z scores (LAZ) and weight for age Z scores (WAZ) at visit three (β = 0.262, p = 0.007; β = 0.226, p = 0.017), respectively. But the longitudinal index has no statistically significant association with WLZ score (p = 0.552). There was no significant difference in change of LAZ and WAZ over time between L-ICFI tertiles for both female and male HIV exposed infants.ConclusionThe index is stable overtime at individual level even though one third of the index components were not stable. The L-CFI was associated with LAZ and WAZ but not with WLZ. However there was no significant difference in change of HAZ and WAZ over time between L-ICFI tertiles for both female and male HIV exposed infants.