Effectiveness of HIV Risk Reduction Interventions among Men who have Sex with Men in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Article

Lu, H, Liu, Y, Dahiya, K et al. (2013). Effectiveness of HIV Risk Reduction Interventions among Men who have Sex with Men in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis . 8(8), 10.1371/journal.pone.0072747

cited authors

  • Lu, H; Liu, Y; Dahiya, K; Qian, HZ; Fan, W; Zhang, L; Ma, J; Ruan, Y; Shao, Y; Vermund, SH; Yin, L

authors

abstract

  • Objective:To evaluate the effect of risk reduction interventions on HIV knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China.Methods:We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of HIV risk reduction intervention studies among Chinese MSM. The summary difference of standardized mean differences (SMD) between both study arms or between pre- and post-intervention assessments were defined as the effect size (ES); ES was calculated using standard meta-analysis in random effects models.Results:Thirty-four eligible studies were included in the analysis, including two randomized clinical trials (RCT), six quasi-experimental studies, six pre-and-post intervention studies, and twenty serial cross-sectional intervention studies. These studies showed an increase in consistent condom use with any male sexual partners (mean ES, 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.56), with regular sexual partners (mean ES, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.18-0.63), and casual sexual partners (mean ES, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.24-0.79). The analysis of ten studies that measured the impact on uptake of HIV testing also showed a positive result (mean ES, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.38-0.71). The risk reduction interventions also improved HIV/AIDS-related knowledge (mean ES, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.60-0.94) and attitudes (mean ES, 1.35; 95% CI, 0.91-1.79), but did not reduce prevalence of HIV (mean ES, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.02-0.45) and syphilis infections (mean ES, -0.01; 95% CI, -0.19-0.17). There was significant heterogeneity among these studies.Conclusions:On aggregate, HIV risk reduction interventions were effective in reducing risky behaviors and improving knowledge and attitudes among Chinese MSM, but were not associated with a change in the prevalence of HIV and syphilis. Future studies should use incidence as definitive study outcome. © 2013 Lu et al.

publication date

  • August 30, 2013

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

volume

  • 8

issue

  • 8