Cargando…
HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology
BACKGROUND: The dissolution of the USSR resulted in independence for constituent republics but left them battling an unstable economic environment and healthcare. Increases in injection drug use, prostitution, and migration were all widespread responses to this transition and have contributed to the...
Autor principal: | |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2016
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5661207/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29138724 http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/cajgh.2015.225 |
_version_ | 1783274442812555264 |
---|---|
author | Saadat, Victoria M. |
author_facet | Saadat, Victoria M. |
author_sort | Saadat, Victoria M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The dissolution of the USSR resulted in independence for constituent republics but left them battling an unstable economic environment and healthcare. Increases in injection drug use, prostitution, and migration were all widespread responses to this transition and have contributed to the emergence of an HIV epidemic in the countries of former Soviet Union. Researchers have begun to identify the risks of HIV infection as well as the barriers to HIV testing and treatment in the former Soviet Union. Significant methodological challenges have arisen and need to be addressed. The objective of this review is to determine common threads in HIV research in the former Soviet Union and provide useful recommendations for future research studies. METHODS: In this systematic review of the literature, Pubmed was searched for English-language studies using the key search terms “HIV”, “AIDS”, “human immunodeficiency virus”, “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”, “Central Asia”, “Kazakhstan”, “Kyrgyzstan”, “Uzbekistan”, “Tajikistan”, “Turkmenistan”, “Russia”, “Ukraine”, “Armenia”, “Azerbaijan”, and “Georgia”. Studies were evaluated against eligibility criteria for inclusion. RESULTS: Thirty-nine studies were identified across the two main topic areas of HIV risk and barriers to testing and treatment, themes subsequently referred to as “risk” and “barriers”. Study design was predominantly cross-sectional. The most frequently used sampling methods were peer-to-peer and non-probabilistic sampling. The most frequently reported risks were condom misuse, risky intercourse, and unsafe practices among injection drug users. Common barriers to testing included that testing was inconvenient, and that results would not remain confidential. Frequent barriers to treatment were based on a distrust in the treatment system. CONCLUSION: The findings of this review reveal methodological limitations that span the existing studies. Small sample size, cross-sectional design, and non-probabilistic sampling methods were frequently reported limitations. Future work is needed to examine barriers to testing and treatment as well as longitudinal studies on HIV risk over time in most-at-risk populations. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5661207 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-56612072017-11-14 HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology Saadat, Victoria M. Cent Asian J Glob Health Research BACKGROUND: The dissolution of the USSR resulted in independence for constituent republics but left them battling an unstable economic environment and healthcare. Increases in injection drug use, prostitution, and migration were all widespread responses to this transition and have contributed to the emergence of an HIV epidemic in the countries of former Soviet Union. Researchers have begun to identify the risks of HIV infection as well as the barriers to HIV testing and treatment in the former Soviet Union. Significant methodological challenges have arisen and need to be addressed. The objective of this review is to determine common threads in HIV research in the former Soviet Union and provide useful recommendations for future research studies. METHODS: In this systematic review of the literature, Pubmed was searched for English-language studies using the key search terms “HIV”, “AIDS”, “human immunodeficiency virus”, “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”, “Central Asia”, “Kazakhstan”, “Kyrgyzstan”, “Uzbekistan”, “Tajikistan”, “Turkmenistan”, “Russia”, “Ukraine”, “Armenia”, “Azerbaijan”, and “Georgia”. Studies were evaluated against eligibility criteria for inclusion. RESULTS: Thirty-nine studies were identified across the two main topic areas of HIV risk and barriers to testing and treatment, themes subsequently referred to as “risk” and “barriers”. Study design was predominantly cross-sectional. The most frequently used sampling methods were peer-to-peer and non-probabilistic sampling. The most frequently reported risks were condom misuse, risky intercourse, and unsafe practices among injection drug users. Common barriers to testing included that testing was inconvenient, and that results would not remain confidential. Frequent barriers to treatment were based on a distrust in the treatment system. CONCLUSION: The findings of this review reveal methodological limitations that span the existing studies. Small sample size, cross-sectional design, and non-probabilistic sampling methods were frequently reported limitations. Future work is needed to examine barriers to testing and treatment as well as longitudinal studies on HIV risk over time in most-at-risk populations. University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2016-01-04 /pmc/articles/PMC5661207/ /pubmed/29138724 http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/cajgh.2015.225 Text en New articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . (CC-BY) |
spellingShingle | Research Saadat, Victoria M. HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title | HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title_full | HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title_fullStr | HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title_full_unstemmed | HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title_short | HIV Risks, Testing, and Treatment in the Former Soviet Union: Challenges and Future Directions in Research and Methodology |
title_sort | hiv risks, testing, and treatment in the former soviet union: challenges and future directions in research and methodology |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5661207/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29138724 http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/cajgh.2015.225 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT saadatvictoriam hivriskstestingandtreatmentintheformersovietunionchallengesandfuturedirectionsinresearchandmethodology |