Abstract
Background“Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)” and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are global health burden. Medication adherence in people living with HIV (PLWH) is a key element in reducing morbidity and mortality. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of research activity helps identify research gaps as well as efforts implemented to improve adherence behaviors in PLWH. The aim of the current study was to assess and analyze literature on HIV/AIDS–related medication adherence using bibliometric methods.MethodsSciVerse Scopus was used to accomplish the purpose of the current study. The study period included all times up to 2017. The analysis was restricted to documents published in academic journals.ResultsSearch strategy retrieved 3021 documents with an average of 32.5 citations per document, an h-index of 136, and an average of 4.4 authors per documents. The volume of literature on HIV/AIDS-related medication adherence constituted 1.3% of the overall HIV/AIDS literature. There was a significant (p < 0.01; r = 0.9) correlation between the growth of publications in AIDS-related stigma and medication adherence. The regions of America (567.9) had the highest research output per one million infected people (567.9) followed by the European region (314.3), Western Pacific Region (70.7), Eastern Mediterranean region (31.4), South East Asia (34.0), and Africa (19.3). Geographical distribution of publications showed an active contribution of certain countries in the Southern and Eastern region of Sub-Saharan Africa. Harvard University (8.4%; n = 254) was the most active institution. The top cited documents focused on the impact of adherence on disease outcome and the impact of text messages on improving medication adherence.ConclusionResearch on medication adherence in PLWH showed regional variations. International research collaboration with high burden regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa needs to be strengthened to achieve the global target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Highlights
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its clinical manifestation of “Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)” are considered major global public health challenge [1, 2]
The literature on medication adherence in people living with HIV (PLWH) constituted 1.3% of total literature on HIV/AIDS published during the same study period
The current study showed that medication adherence research pertaining to HIV/AIDS started in the early 1990s while reports on HIV/AIDS started in the early 1980s, exhibiting a one-decade gap
Summary
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its clinical manifestation of “Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)” are considered major global public health challenge [1, 2]. It is estimated that 36.7 million people worldwide are living with HIV and approximately one million died of HIV-related causes globally [3]. No cure is available for HIV infection. Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) is considered the optimum available therapy for people living with HIV (PLWH) and those at substantial risk [4]. The early use of combination ART, known as highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), has Prevention and control of HIV infection largely depend on adherence to recommended treatment [8, 9]. Adherence can be problematic in low and middle-income countries because of inadequate healthcare services, limited health literacy, and lack
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