Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Apr 15;68 Suppl 3(0 3):S368-74.
doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000519.

Impact of support groups for people living with HIV on clinical outcomes: a systematic review of the literature

Moses H Bateganya  1 , Ugo Amanyeiwe, Uchechi Roxo, Maxia Dong
Affiliations

Impact of support groups for people living with HIV on clinical outcomes: a systematic review of the literature

Moses H Bateganya et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. .

Abstract

Background: Support groups for people living with HIV are integrated into HIV care and treatment programs as a modality for increasing patient literacy and as an intervention to address the psychosocial needs of patients. However, the impact of support groups on key health outcomes has not been fully determined.

Methods: We searched electronic databases from January 1995 through May 2014 and reviewed relevant literature on the impact of support groups on mortality, morbidity, retention in HIV care, quality of life (QOL), and ongoing HIV transmission, as well as their cost-effectiveness.

Results: Of 1809 citations identified, 20 met the inclusion criteria. One reported on mortality, 7 on morbidity, 5 on retention in care, 7 on QOL, and 7 on ongoing HIV transmission. Eighteen (90%) of the articles reported largely positive results on the impact of support group interventions on key outcomes. Support groups were associated with reduced mortality and morbidity, increased retention in care, and improved QOL. Because of study limitations, the overall quality of evidence was rated as fair for mortality, morbidity, retention in care, and QOL, and poor for HIV transmission.

Conclusions: Implementing support groups as an intervention is expected to have a high impact on morbidity and retention in care and a moderate impact on mortality and QOL of people living with HIV. Support groups improve disclosure with potential prevention benefits but the impact on ongoing transmission is uncertain. It is unclear whether this intervention is cost-effective given the paucity of studies in this area.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study flow diagram
Total number of studies identified; screened; eligible and included in the systematic review of support groups for People Living with HIV January 1990- May 2014. * Duplicate citations removed. ^ Numbers below in outcome section add up to more than 20 as some studies addressed more than one outcome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. AIDS Information Centre (AIC) AIDS Information Centre 2004 annual report. Kampala, Uganda: 2004.
    1. WHO. Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection: recommendations for a public health approach 2013 - PubMed
    1. WHO. Operations Manual for Delivery of HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment in High-Prevalence, Resource-Constrained Settings (Edition 1 for field testing and country adaptation) Chapter 4: Community. 2008 The full operations manual is available at: http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/imai/operations_manual/en/ - PubMed
    1. OGAC. Technical Considerations Provided by PEPFAR Technical Working Groups for FY 2014 COPS and ROPS. Washington, DC: OGAC; 2013. http://www.pepfar.gov/documents/organization/217761.pdf.
    1. Peterson J, Rintamaki L, Brashers D, Goldsmith D, Neidig J. The Forms and Functions of Peer Social Support for People Living with HIV. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. 2012;23:294–305. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types