Abstract
Objectives The authors have conducted a systematic review of oral manifestations of HIV from studies conducted in Asia to establish the characteristics and prevalence of individual oral manifestations in Asia, and to assess the direction of future research studies on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia. Material and Methods The electronic retrieval systems and databases searched for relevant articles were PubMed [MEDLINE], EBSCO, and EMBASE. The search was for limited articles published in English or with an English abstract and articles published during the period January 1995 to August 2014. The authors reached a final overall sample of 39 studies that were conducted in Asia. Results The median population size among all studies was 312.7 patients. Oral candidiasis [OC] was the most common oral manifestation [37.7%] in studies conducted in Asia. The overall prevalence of oral hairy leukoplakia and melanotic hyperpigmentation was computed to be 10.1% and 22.8% respectively. Thailand and India are primarily countries with maximum research on oral manifestations. Conclusions The research on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia has to upgrade to more interventional and therapeutic studies rather than the contemporary cross- sectional epidemiological descriptive studies. The authors have given suggestions and future directions for the implementation of clinical research of oral manifestations in HIV patients. Key words:Oral manifestations, HIV/AIDS, Asia, Systematic review.
Highlights
Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV] is a massive and byzantine challenge for the public health system
No research studies on oral manifestations of Asia were documented in 37 countries
The authors have summarized the trends of oral manifestations of HIV infection in Asia and have proposed guidelines on course of future studies to be conducted in Asia
Summary
Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV] is a massive and byzantine challenge for the public health system. The spread of HIV infection in Asian countries is a major concern that is still showing a rising trend (1). Despite a 26% reduction in HIV infections since 2001, the pandemic still outpaces the response and half of the people [49%] in Asia pacific region are unable to access the anti-retroviral therapy. The overall national prevalence in Asian countries is low, a misleading true statistic, that tends to camouflage the real pandemic threat. The huge volume of Asian population ensures that even a low prevalence transmutes into a colossal HIV infected population in numbers.
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