Abstract
Objective
To describe and summarize equity reporting in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) systematic
reviews and explore the extent to which equity issues are addressed and reported in
HIV reviews using the PROGRESS Plus framework.
Study Design and Setting
Application of the PROGRESS Plus framework to a bibliometric analysis of HIV reviews
in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Results
The analysis included 103 reviews published as of March 2014, with a median of five
studies per review (first quartile; Q1 = 2; third quartile; Q3 = 11). Reporting of
PROGRESS Plus factors was as follows: Place of residence (low, middle, and high income;
55.3%), place of residence (urban or rural; 24.3%), race or ethnicity (20.4%), occupation
(10.7%), gender (65.0%), religion (1.9%), education (7.8%), socioeconomic position
(10.7%), social networks and capital (1.0%), age (1.9%), and sexual orientation (3.8%).
Conclusion
Gaps in the reporting of relevant equity indicators were identified within Cochrane
HIV systematic review indicating that research is not consistently conducted through
an equity lens. There is a need to incorporate PROGRESS Plus factors into both primary
and secondary studies.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 29, 2016
Accepted:
September 14,
2016
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: B.Z. has worked for the Cochrane HIV Group as assistant trial search coordinator at Cochrane South Africa; T.K. is the center manager of Cochrane South Africa; V.W., L.M., S.M., B.Z., T.K., and N.V.M. are authors of Cochrane reviews.
Identification
Copyright
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