Category Archives: Testing
Quantifying and addressing losses along the continuum of care for people living with HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
INTRODUCTION: Recent years have seen an increasing recognition of the need to improve access and retention in care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This review aims to quantify patients along...
A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of alternative HIV counseling and testing methods to increase knowledge of HIV status
BACKGROUND: Alternatives to conventional HIV counseling and testing (HIV-CT) have been used to improve receipt of HIV test results. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of alternative HIV-CT methods on the...
HIV type-1 drug resistance in treatment-naive patients monitored using minority species assays: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: The detection of mutations associated with drug resistance in HIV type-1 might be increased by applying minority species assays capable of identifying low frequency mutations in comparison with the...
The cost-effectiveness of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review
Background: Although highly effective prevention interventions exist, the epidemic of paediatric HIV continues to challenge control efforts in resource-limited settings. We reviewed the cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission...
Modeling the cost-effectiveness of HIV treatment: how to buy the most ‘health’ when resources are limited
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize recent cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) that evaluate optimal treatment strategies for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). RECENT FINDINGS: Efforts to attain universal coverage of current treatment...
Low levels of HIV test coverage in clinical settings in the U.K.: A systematic review of adherence to 2008 guidelines
OBJECTIVES: To quantify the extent to which guideline recommendations for routine testing for HIV are adhered to outside of genitourinary medicine (GUM), sexual health (SH) and antenatal clinics. METHODS: A...
Role and outcomes of community health workers in HIV care in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
Introduction: The provision of HIV treatment and care in sub-Saharan Africa faces multiple challenges, including weak health systems and attrition of trained health workers. One potential response to overcome these...
Towards universal voluntary HIV testing and counselling: A systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based approaches
BACKGROUND: Effective national and global HIV responses require a significant expansion of HIV testing and counselling (HTC) to expand access to prevention and care. Facility-based HTC, while essential, is unlikely...
Yield of HIV-associated tuberculosis during intensified case finding in resource-limited settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Intensified case finding is the regular screening for evidence of tuberculosis in people infected with HIV, at high risk of HIV, or living in congregate settings. We systematically reviewed studies...
Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in preventing HIV risk behaviour in injecting drug users
OBJECTIVE: To consider evidence for the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in reducing the risk of infection with HIV of injecting drug users. METHOD: We reviewed 19 published studies of the...
The impact of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes on maternal health care in resource-poor settings: Looking beyond the PMTCT programme – a systematic review
BACKGROUND: There is increasing debate about the impact of scaled-up HIV/AIDS programmes on fragile healthcare systems in low-income countries. OBJECTIVES: To contribute to the understanding of the relation between HIV/AIDS...
