Category Archives: Epidemiology
Prevalence of hepatitis D virus infection in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis D virus (also known as hepatitis delta virus) can establish a persistent infection in people with chronic hepatitis B, leading to accelerated progression of liver disease. In sub-Saharan...
Opportunities and gaps in primary care preventative health services for transgender patients: A systemic review
Purpose: Transgender people face barriers to accessing healthcare, resulting in population-level disparities in health outcomes. Little research is available to better understand the receipt of primary healthcare among transgender patients...
Shifting tasks from pharmacy to non-pharmacy personnel for providing antiretroviral therapy to people living with HIV: A systematic review and meta-analysis
OBJECTIVES: Lay people or non-pharmacy health workers with training could dispense antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-constrained countries, freeing up time for pharmacists to focus on more technical tasks. We assessed...
Does being drunk or high cause HIV sexual risk behavior? A systematic review of drug administration studies
HIV sexual risk behavior is broadly associated with substance use. Yet critical questions remain regarding the potential causal link between substance use (e.g., intoxication) and HIV sexual risk behavior. The...
Zoonotic and vector-borne infections among urban homeless and marginalized people in the United States and Europe, 1990-2014
INTRODUCTION: In high-income countries, homeless individuals in urban areas often live in crowded conditions with limited sanitation and personal hygiene. The environment of homelessness in high-income countries may result in...
Global prevalence of injecting drug use and sociodemographic characteristics and prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV in people who inject drugs: A multistage systematic review
BACKGROUND: Sharing of equipment used for injecting drug use (IDU) is a substantial cause of disease burden and a contributor to blood-borne virus transmission. We did a global multistage systematic...
Prevalence and factors associated with depression in people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Depression, one of the most common psychiatric disorders, is two- to three-times more prevalent in people living with HIV (PLHIV) than in the general population in many settings as shown...
Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus co-infection in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have several important similarities including worldwide distribution, hepato-tropism, similar modes of transmission and the ability to induce chronic infection that may...
Sex in the shadow of HIV: A systematic review of prevalence, risk factors, and interventions to reduce sexual risk-taking among HIV-positive adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa
BACKGROUND: Evidence on sexual risk-taking among HIV-positive adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa is urgently needed. This systematic review synthesizes the extant research on prevalence, factors associated with, and interventions...
Prevalence of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus among intravenous drug users: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Intravenous drug users (IDUs) have been demonstrated to be highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Nevertheless, the prevalence of Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV), an important co-infected agent with HIV, among this...
