A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Association Between Antiretroviral Therapy Refill Type and Viral Suppression
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19469707 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Oluwaseun Abdulganiyu Badru (0000-0003-0076-2745, University of Iowa, corresponding author), Joy Chioma Edeh (University of Iowa), Chioma Wisdom Okezie (University of Iowa), Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo (University of Iowa) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-17 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | AIDS and Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1090-7165 • E-ISSN: 1573-3254 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10461-026-05136-z |
| PMID | 41995924 |
| OpenAlex | W7154739981 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 56 |
To reduce barriers to viral suppression, people living with HIV (PLWH) are placed on multi-month dispensing (MMD) of antiretroviral therapy medication. However, there are concerns about viral rebound following MMD initiation, and no existing review has compared viral suppression in PLWH on MMD with that in those on monthly refills [standard of care (SoC)]. This meta-analysis compared viral suppression of PLWH on MMD to those on SoC. In February 2025, we searched Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles (PROSPERO ID: CRD420251006737). Meta-analysis was performed using RStudio. 1078 articles were retrieved from the databases; 25 met our eligibility criteria (21 met meta-analysis criteria). Compared to PLWH on SoC, viral suppression was better among PLWH on 3MMD or more [risk ratio (RR): 1.17, 1.06–1.30] and 6MMD (RR: 1.24, 1.15–1.34). However, for both 3MMD and 6MMD, the effect sizes were smaller in RCTs than in observational studies. Furthermore, PLWH on 6MMD were less likely to be virally suppressed than those on 3MMD (RR: 0.76, 0.67–0.85). Lastly, compared with SoC, 3MMD or more was significantly associated with viral suppression if defined as
Antiretroviral therapy · Health psychology · Observational study · Public health · Viral load · Viral therapy · HIV-related health complications and treatments · HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
The PRISMA 2020 statement
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| Highly cited | No |
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