Condom effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV transmission: a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on HIV serodiscordant couples
Ημερομηνία
2016Συγγραφέας
Giannou, Foteini K.Tsiara, Chrissa G.
Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.
Talias, M.
Benetou, Vasiliki
Kantzanou, Maria
Bonovas, Stefanos
Hatzakis, A.
Source
Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes ResearchVolume
16Issue
4Pages
489-499Google Scholar check
Keyword(s):
Metadata
Εμφάνιση πλήρους εγγραφήςΕπιτομή
Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to reassess the effectiveness of condoms in reducing heterosexual transmission of HIV. Methods: Medline, Scopus, and the ISI Web of Science databases were searched up to June 2014. Eligible studies were synthesized using random-effects models. Results: Twenty-five studies with 10,676 HIV serodiscordant heterosexual couples were analyzed. The risk of HIV transmission was considerably lower among couples that were always using condoms compared to never-users (RR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.20–0.43) or inconsistent users (RR: 0.23, 0.13–0.40). The protective effect was slightly higher when the male rather than the female partner was infected (RR: 0.31, 0.20–0.48; vs. RR: 0.44, 0.24–0.80), and very high in Asian settings (RR: 0.06, 0.01–0.46). Conclusions: Though imperfect, condoms reduce HIV transmission by more than 70% when used consistently by HIV serodiscordant heterosexual couples. Social, cultural and biological differences need to be studied further to inform projection modelers and policy makers. © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.