Category Archives: Treatment
An exploration of group-based HIV/AIDS treatment and care models in Sub-Saharan Africa using a realist evaluation (Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome) heuristic tool: A systematic review
INTRODUCTION: It is increasingly acknowledged that differentiated care models hold potential to manage large volumes of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Various group-based models of ART service delivery aimed at...
Behavioral interventions targeting alcohol use among people living with HIV/AIDS: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Alcohol use is often reported among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and is associated with increased sexual risk and poor medication adherence. This meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of behavioral interventions...
Systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary prophylaxis for prevention of HIV-related toxoplasmic encephalitis relapse using trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
A recent systematic literature and meta-analysis reported relative efficacy of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for the treatment of toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) in HIV-infected adults. Here, we estimated relapse rates during secondary prophylaxis...
Impact of SMS/GPRS printers in reducing time to early infant diagnosis compared to routine result reporting: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Despite significant gains made towards improving access, early infant diagnosis (EID) testing programs suffer from long test turnaround times that result in substantial loss to follow-up and mortality associated...
Renal manifestations of HIV during the antiretroviral era in South Africa: A systematic scoping review
BACKGROUND: It is estimated that 650,000 patients may develop human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related renal disease in South Africa. South Africa has recently adopted WHO policy, stipulating that all HIV-infected patients...
Evaluating the effectiveness of physical exercise interventions in persons living with HIV: Overview of systematic reviews
Physical exercise (PE) has not been well studied in persons living with HIV (PLHIV). We conducted an overview of systematic reviews to assess the effectiveness of PE and to determine...
Zidovudine/lamivudine vs. abacavir/lamivudine vs. tenofovir/emtricitabine in fixed-dose combinations as initial treatment for HIV patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
INTRODUCTION: Initial treatment of the HIV is based on the use of three drugs, two of which are nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors. There are three combinations of these drugs which...
Effectiveness of n-3 fatty acids in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia in HIV/AIDS patients: A meta-analysis
Hypertriglyceridemia is common in antiretroviral therapy-treated patients and Omega 3 fatty acids are being used as a intervention in reducing serum triglycerides (TG) in these patients. The objective of this...
Pharmacogenetic considerations for HIV treatment in different ethnicities: An update
INTRODUCTION: Variations in the human genome sequence sometimes play an important role in pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics. Previous studies have demonstrated a high degree of variation both between and within different...
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...
Implementation effectiveness of revised (post-2010) World Health Organization guidelines on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV using routinely collected data in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review
BACKGROUND: To synthesize and evaluate the impact of implementing post-2010 World Health Organization (WHO) prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) guidelines on attainment of PMTCT targets. METHODS: Retrospective and prospective cohort...
