Prevalence of, and factors associated with, alcohol use disorder among young adults (aged 15–24 years) living with HIV/AIDS in low-income and middle-income countries: protocol for a systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol use is a global driver of HIV infection and disease progression, mediated through risky behaviour and poor antiretroviral adherence. Most studies about the burden of alcohol use among people living with HIV (PLWH)/AIDS have been done in adult populations, but less is known about young people with HIV, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite the high level of alcohol use in these settings. The aim of this review is to collate evidence on the prevalence of, and factors associated with, alcohol use disorder (AUD) among young adults (aged 15–24 years) living with HIV/AIDS in LMICs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Two experienced librarians will conduct an independent article search in PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and Web of Science databases, using relevant Medical Subject Headings terms and Boolean operators (‘AND’, ‘OR’). We will include English-language articles that were published in peer-reviewed journals from 1 January 2000, to 25 July 2022, that documented the prevalence of AUD among young people (15–24 years) living with HIV in LMICs. We shall exclude systematic review articles and qualitative studies. Two independent reviewers will screen the articles for eligibility and data will be extracted onto a preset Excel spreadsheet. Data analysis will be done using Stata V.14.0. Heterogeneity will be assessed by use of the I(2) statistic and data will be pooled in meta-analyses where appropriate. Publication bias will be assessed using the funnel plot. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not needed as this systematic review will be based on published studies. Findings from this study will be disseminated via submission for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, at conference presentations, and made available to health professionals, scientists and policy makers. Our data set can be made available on request. REGISTRATION DETAILS: PROSPERO, CRD42022308955