Category Archives: Prevention, Engagement and Care Cascade
Interventions to enhance medication adherence in pregnancy — A systematic review
Background: Sub-optimal medication adherence in pregnant women with chronic disease and pregnancy-related indications has the potential to adversely affect maternal and perinatal outcomes. Adherence to appropriate medications is advocated during and...
Information and communication technology-based health interventions for transgender people: A scoping review
In the recent past, there has been a strong interest in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to deliver healthcare to ‘hard-to-reach’ populations. This scoping review aims to...
Characteristics of psychosocial interventions to improve ART adherence in people living with HIV: A systematic review
The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be a significant global public health crisis. The main HIV/AIDS treatment is the antiretroviral therapy (ART), which is highly effective but depends on the patient’s...
Prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among adults taking antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition (Body Mass Index < 18.5 kg/m2) is a common problem and a major cause of hospital admission for patients living with HIV. Though sub-Saharan Africa is the most...
Barriers and facilitators to maintaining a high level of polypharmacy adherence in people living with HIV: A scoping review
Objectives: With the prolongation of life span and increasing incidence of comorbidities, polypharmacy has become a challenge for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). This review aimed to identify barriers and...
Does telehealth affect the adherence to ART among patients with HIV? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background Several studies have shown different effects of telehealth interventions on adherence to Antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV. This study conducted a meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials...
Immediate treatment for recent hepatitis C infection in people with high-risk behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are almost exclusively approved for the treatment of chronic HCV. This poses a significant barrier to the treatment of recently acquired HCV because of...
Contribution of low CD4 cell counts and high HIV viral load to the efficacy of preferred first-line antiretroviral regimens for treating HIV infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis
We assessed whether low CD4 count and high viral load (VL) affect the response to currently preferred ART. We performed a systematic review of randomized, controlled clinical trials that analyzed...
Service delivery models that promote linkages to PrEP for adolescent girls and young women and men in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review
BACKGROUND: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an emerging biomedical prevention intervention. Documenting PrEP service delivery models (SDMs) that promote linkage to and continuation of PrEP will inform guidelines and maximise roll-out....
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis use on a global scale among men who have sex with men: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Knowledge of the proportion of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) use among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the specific gaps in PrEP use can stimulate enhanced focus on HIV...
Dysphagia and pill swallowing in HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Results of a scoping review
BACKGROUND: South Africa has the highest prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is expected to improve the quality of life for these individuals but...
Health economic analyses of latent tuberculosis infection screening and preventive treatment among people living with HIV in lower tuberculosis incidence settings: A systematic review
Introduction: In lower tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries (<100 cases/100,000/year), screening and preventive treatment (PT) for latent TB infection (LTBI) among people living with HIV (PLWH) is often recommended, yet guidelines...