Category Archives: Treatment
Evaluation of blood-based antibody rapid testing for HIV early therapy: A meta-analysis of the evidence
Background: Western blot (WB) assay is considered the gold standard test for HIV infection confirmation. However, it requires technical expertise and is quite time-consuming. WHO recommends blood-based rapid diagnosis to...
Outcomes of patients lost to follow-up in African antiretroviral therapy programs: Individual patient data meta-analysis
Background: Low retention on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has emerged as a threat to the Joint United Nations Programme on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 targets. We examined outcomes...
Treatment outcome and adverse events of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate based regimens as compared to zidovudine based regimens among people living with HIV/AIDS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
Background: Findings from different studies report inferior clinical and virologic efficacy with TDF/3TC/NVP. But, some studies show that, there was no statistically significant difference in mortality among ZDV and TDF...
Incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in immunocompromised patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, with immunocompromised patients (ICPs) at particular risk. Therefore, guidelines recommend pneumococcal vaccination for these patients. However, guidelines are...
Comparison of 48-week efficacies of elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide and nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor-sparing regimens: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
OBJECTIVES: To compare nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-sparing regimens with tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-based combinations in HIV-1-infected adults, we performed a network meta-analysis (NMA) to provide estimates of relative efficacy for...
Use of antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes among women living with HIV-1 in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: Worldwide, nearly 18 million women of reproductive age are living with HIV-1. Although increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy has significantly reduced HIV-1 mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), a...
A meta-analysis of effectiveness of interventions to improve adherence in pregnant women receiving antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence during pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: For this meta-analysis, the following databases were searched: MEDLINE Complete,...
Comorbidities and treatment outcomes in multidrug resistant tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Little is known about the impact of comorbidities on multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes. We aimed to examine the effect of human immunodeficiency...
Prevalence and risk factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in HIV-monoinfection
OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence and risk factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis in HIV-monoinfected patients. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We searched...
Effective interventions to improve young adults’ linkage to HIV care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
HIV/AIDS remains a major public health problem despite the efforts to prevent and decrease its spread. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) represents 70% of the global number of people living with HIV...
Tuberculosis treatment outcomes in Ethiopia from 2003 to 2016, and impact of HIV co-infection and prior drug exposure: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes is substantially needed to assess the performance of national TB controls programs (NTPs). To date, the overall estimates of treatment outcomes have not...
