Isoniazid preventive therapy in HIV-infected pregnant and postpartum women in high prevalence of tuberculosis countries: A protocol for systematic review

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of health complications and death among human with immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. When TB develops during pregnancy or the early postpartum period, it is associated with negative maternal, pregnancy, and fetus and infant outcome, including premature birth, low birth weight, and congenital or neonatal TB infection or disease. The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the effective and safe of isoniazid for preventing TB for HIV-infected pregnant women in counties with high prevalence of TB. METHODS: Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane library will be searched to include randomized control trials which compared isoniazid preventive therapy with placebo for preventing TB in HIV-infected pregnant and postpartum women. RevMan version 5.3 will be used to perform all calculations related to the meta-analysis. Dichotomous data will be calculated in terms of a fixed or random effect model and expressed by the relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The Cochrane collaboration's tool in the following aspects was used to assess the risk of bias (ROB) in included studies. The inconsistency index (I2) and Chi-squared will be applied for heterogeneity detection between clinical trials. A value of P < 0.05 will be considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The main outcomes of pooled evidence synthesis will be presented including the incidence of TB and adverse events. CONCLUSION: This study will provide the evidence of whether isoniazid is an effective and safe intervention for preventing TB for HIV-infected pregnant women. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202070011