Category Archives: Testing
Barriers and facilitators to HIV testing in migrants in high-income countries: A systematic review
Migrants, particularly from low- and middle-income countries, are at a heightened risk of adverse HIV outcomes. HIV testing may improve these outcomes. We reviewed and synthesised studies into migrants and...
Health system and community level interventions for improving antenatal care coverage and health outcomes
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least four antenatal care (ANC) visits for all pregnant women. Almost half of pregnant women worldwide, and especially in developing countries do...
Sensitivity of HIV rapid tests compared to fourth generation enzyme immunoassays or HIV RNA tests – A systematic review and meta-analysis
OBJECTIVE: Determine the sensitivity of rapid HIV tests (RT) compared to fourth generation enzyme immunoassays (EIA) or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) in clinical settings. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis....
Facilitators and barriers in HIV linkage to care interventions: A qualitative evidence review
OBJECTIVE: To synthesize qualitative evidence on linkage to care interventions for people living with HIV. DESIGN: Systematic literature review. METHODS: We searched nineteen databases for studies reporting qualitative evidence on...
Systematic review of mobile health behavioural interventions to improve uptake of HIV testing for vulnerable and key populations
INTRODUCTION: This systematic narrative review examined the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) behavioural interventions designed to increase the uptake of HIV testing among vulnerable and key...
Characteristics of men who have sex with men who use smartphone geosocial networking applications and implications for HIV interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Men who have sex with men (MSM) are increasingly using geosocial networking (GSN) mobile applications (apps) designed for MSM to socialize and seek sex partners. We systematically reviewed studies on...
Systematic review of strategies to increase men’s HIV-testing in sub-Saharan Africa
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review summarizes evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to increase men’s HIV-testing in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Medline, EmBase, Africa-Wide Information and Global Health were searched. Cluster and...
Hispanics/Latinos and the HIV continuum of care in the Southern USA: A qualitative review of the literature, 2002-2013
Hispanics/Latinos are disproportionately affected by HIV infection, but access HIV care less often than non-Hispanic whites in the USA. The majority of new HIV diagnoses among Hispanics/Latinos occur in the...
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...
Barriers to implementation of rapid and point-of-care tests for human immunodeficiency virus infection: Findings from a systematic review (1996–2014)
Implementation of human immunodeficiency virus rapid and point-of-care tests (RDT/POCT) is understood to be impeded by many different factors that operate at 4 main levels-test devices, patients, providers, and health...
Is there scope for cost savings and efficiency gains in HIV services? A systematic review of the evidence from low- and middle-income countries
OBJECTIVE: To synthesize the data available–on costs, efficiency and economies of scale and scope–for the six basic programmes of the UNAIDS Strategic Investment Framework, to inform those planning the scale-up...
