Category Archives: Epidemiology and Determinants of Health
Housing status, medical care, and health outcomes among people living With HIV/AIDS: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests responses to HIV that combine individual-level interventions with those that address structural or contextual factors that influence risks and health outcomes of infection. Housing is such...
Interventions to improve or facilitate linkage to or retention in pre-ART (HIV) care and initiation of ART in low- and middle-income settings – A systematic review
INTRODUCTION: Several approaches have been taken to reduce pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) losses between HIV testing and ART initiation in low- and middle-income countries, but a systematic assessment of the evidence...
State of the evidence: Intimate partner violence and HIV/STI risk among adolescents
This paper provides a critical narrative review of the scientific literature on intimate partner violence (IPV) and risky sexual behavior as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents, aged...
Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B virus co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa and the potential impact and program feasibility of hepatitis B surface antigen screening in resource-limited settings
BACKGROUND: Screening people living with HIV for hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection is recommended in resource-rich settings to optimize HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) and mitigate HBV-related liver disease. This review...
Syndemics of psychosocial problems and HIV risk: A systematic review of empirical tests of the disease interaction concept
In the theory of syndemics, diseases co-occur in particular temporal or geographical contexts due to harmful social conditions (disease concentration) and interact at the level of populations and individuals, with...
Association between maternal HIV infection and low birth weight and prematurity: A meta-analysis of cohort studies
BACKGROUND: To assess the association between maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and low birth weight (LBW)/prematurity (PTD), we conducted a meta-analysis of cohort studies of HIV infected and uninfected...
Socio-cultural factors influencing the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria: A synthesis of the literature
BACKGROUND: Currently, Nigeria alone accounts for 30% of the burden of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This review explores the socio-cultural factors influencing prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) service...
Sexual risk reduction interventions for HIV prevention among South African youth: A meta-analytic review
OBJECTIVES: To examine the efficacy of sexual risk reduction interventions among South African youth. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched to identify studies published between 2007 and early 2013. Studies were...
The enabling effect of food assistance in improving adherence and/or treatment completion for antiretroviral therapy and tuberculosis treatment: A literature review
Socioeconomic costs of HIV and TB and the difficulty of maintaining optimal treatment are well documented. Social protection measures such as food assistance may be required to offset some of...
Review: An urgent need for research on factors impacting adherence to and retention in care among HIV-positive youth and adolescents from key populations
INTRODUCTION: The 50% increase in HIV-related deaths in youth and adolescents (aged 10-24) from 2005 to 2012 highlights the need to improve HIV treatment and care in this population, including...
