Digital Intervention Services to Promote HIV Self-Testing and Linkage to Care Services: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis-Global Trends and Future Directions.

Objective: The global burden of HIV remains a critical public health challenge, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, home to over two-thirds of individuals living with HIV. HIV self-testing (HIVST) has emerged as a promising strategy endorsed by the World Health Organization to achieve UNAIDS targets. Despite its potential, challenges persist in linking self-testers to care post a positive result. Digital health interventions, including chatbots and mobile applications, offer innovative solutions to address this gap. However, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the collaboration and growth in the literature at the intersection of HIVST and digital interventions is lacking. Methods: The study employs a bibliometric approach, leveraging data from the Web of Science, to analyze the characteristics, citation pattern and content of 289 articles spanning 1992-2023. The analysis involves performance assessment, scientific collaboration analysis, science mapping, and content analysis. Key bibliometric indicators, such as annual growth rate, citation impact, and authorship patterns, are explored. Collaboration patterns among countries, institutions, and authors are elucidated, and thematic mapping provides insight into the key research themes. Results: The analysis reveals a dynamic and expanding field, with an annual scientific growth rate of 12.25%. Notable contributions come from diverse sources, including North America, Europe, and Africa. High-impact journals such as JMIR mHealth and uHealth play a crucial role in disseminating research findings. African authors, including Lebelonyane R, Ford N, and Lockman S, feature prominently, reflecting a positive trend in diverse authorship. Co-citation analysis highlights influential manuscripts, with systematic reviews dominating the top-cited articles. Collaboration analysis underscores strategic partnerships globally, particularly involving the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Conclusion: This bibliometrics analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the digital health landscape in HIVST and linkage to care. It identifies key contributors, high-impact journals, and collaborative networks. The thematic map reveals nuanced research domains, including alcohol dependence, men's health, outcomes, and user acceptance. The findings offer insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, guiding future directions in the evolving intersection of HIVST and digital health interventions.

Corrigendum: Digital Intervention Services to Promote HIV Self-Testing and Linkage to Care Services: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis-Global Trends and Future Directions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/phrs.2024.1606354.].

Residential and inpatient treatment of substance use disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: With substance use rates increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), an understanding of the accessibility and effectiveness of rehabilitative services for people who use alcohol and other drugs (AOD) is critical in the global efforts to diagnose and treat substance use disorders (SUD). This scoping review seeks to address the gaps in knowledge related to the types of research that have been conducted regarding inpatient or residential SUD treatment in SSA, the settings in which the research was conducted, and the study countries. METHODS: A search of three databases, PubMED, Scopus, and African Index Medicus, was conducted for publications related to the treatment of SUD in inpatient or residential settings in SSA. Articles were screened at the title/abstract level and at full text by two reviewers. Articles eligible for inclusion were original research, conducted in SSA, published in English, included populations who received or were currently receiving treatment for SUD in inpatient or residential settings, or documented demand for SUD services. RESULTS: This scoping review included 82 studies originating from 6 countries in SSA. Three themes emerged within the literature: access and demand for inpatient and residential SUD treatment, quality and outcomes of SUD treatment, and descriptions of the services offered and staffing of these facilities. Barriers to access include financial barriers, limited availability of services, and geographic concentration in cities. Women were shown to access residential and inpatient SUD treatment at lower rates than men, and certain racial groups face unique language and financial barriers in accessing services. Studies indicate mixed success of inpatient and residential SUD treatment in sustained SUD remission for patients. CONCLUSION: There are significant gaps in the literature, driven by a lack of longitudinal studies focused on patient outcomes following treatment and the use of a narrow definition of treatment success. Both structural and non-structural barriers, such as stigma and discrimination, are barriers to access. Further research is needed to evaluate approaches to mitigate these barriers and expand access to residential and inpatient SUD treatment.

Adapting a community-based intervention to address social determinants of health influencing pre-exposure prophylaxis services for Black adults in Washington, District of Columbia: A study protocol.

Community-based HIV treatment initiation and continuation helps to address social determinants of health (SDOH) barriers to care and increase antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake and adherence. Similarly, community-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (cbPrEP) services can help address SDOH barriers such as transportation costs and stigma. However, few studies have examined cbPrEP programming in the Washington, District of Columbia (DC) area where more Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV and have low PrEP uptake. This study aims to adapt and pilot a community-based ART intervention (cbART) intervention for cbPrEP service delivery for Black adults in the Washington, DC area. The adaptation of the cbART intervention will be informed by the ADAPT-ITT framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. For Aim 1, in-depth and key informant interviews will be conducted with PrEP program managers at community-based organizations (N = 10), DC health department representatives (N = 8), PrEP providers (N = 10) and current and potential Black PrEP users (n = 24). The interviews will provide an initial assessment of barriers and facilitators to PrEP services and inform the decisions on how to adapt the cbART intervention for cbPrEP services. In Aim 2, we will train and pilot test the cbPrEP intervention for acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness with Black adults (n = 60). Enrolled participants will complete a survey at baseline and at 45 days post-enrollment. In-depth interviews will be conducted with a subset (N = 16) of participants, those who did not enroll (N = 10) and providers implementing the cbPrEP intervention (N = 8). Alternative strategies to PrEP service delivery are needed to increase PrEP uptake among those most in need in the DC area. If cbPrEP delivery is found to be acceptable, feasible, and appropriate, it could have a significant impact on DC's Ending the HIV Epidemic efforts and will inform future efforts to investigate the intervention's efficacy on PrEP uptake and continuation among Black adults in DC.

Peer-based Promotion and Nurse-led Distribution of HIV Self-Testing Among Networks of Men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Development and Feasibility Results of the STEP Intervention.

Background: According to the 2016-2017 Tanzania HIV Impact Survey, only 45% of men living with HIV (MLWH) were aware of their HIV status. In an effort to increase HIV testing in Tanzania, including among men, the Government of Tanzania passed a law in December 2019 to allowing HIV self-testing (HIVST) to be included in the national testing strategies. The objective of this paper is to describe the development and pilot feasibility assessment of the Self-Testing Education and Promotion (STEP) intervention, which was one of the projects conducted in Tanzania focusing on men to inform policy change. Methods: The development and piloting processes were guided by the ADAPT-ITT model and informed by a national PEPFAR/USAID-funded HIV implementation science project called Sauti.The adapted STEP intervention included the following two components: 1) peer-based HIVST promotion; and 2) nurse-led HIVST distribution. For the feasibility assessment, 25 men were selected and trained to promote HIVST among their peers before helping to recruit 253 men to receive instructions and collect an HIVST kit from a nurse at a community-based study tent site. Results: Of the 236 participants who completed the 1-month follow-up survey, 98.3% reported using the kit. The majority (92.4%) of participants reported a negative HIVST result while 4.2% (n=10) received a positive result. Most (70%, n=7) of the participants with a positive result sought follow-up services at a healthcare facility while 40.3% (n=95) of the participants with a negative self-test result visited the community-based project site. Most of the men (53%, n =129) did not visit a healthcare facility or the study site. The majority of participants reported having a mobile phone and forty-seven of them called someone to share their results while twenty-seven sent a text message about their results. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that the combined peer-based promotion and nurse-led distribution of HIVST intervention in the community for men was acceptable and feasible. However, the high proportion of men who visited the tent site in the community after self-testing indicated that future research should evaluate the potential for nurses to provide community-based linkage to HIV care and prevention services for self-testers.