Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Feb 2;7(1):25.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-018-0684-y.

Strategies for improving the lives of US women aged 40 and above living with HIV/AIDS: an evidence map

Gaelen P Adam  1 , Mengyang Di  2 , Susan Cu-Uvin  2   3   4 , Christopher Halladay  2 , Bryant T Smith  2 , Suchitra Iyer  5 , Thomas A Trikalinos  2   3
Affiliations

Strategies for improving the lives of US women aged 40 and above living with HIV/AIDS: an evidence map

Gaelen P Adam et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Background: While in its early years the HIV epidemic affected primarily the male and the young, nowadays, the population living with HIV/AIDS is approximately 24% women, and its age composition has shifted towards older ages. Many of the older women who live with HIV/AIDS also live with the medical and social conditions that accompany aging. This work aims to identify and characterize empirical studies of strategies for the comprehensive management of women over 40, including transgender women, who live with HIV/AIDS. Forty was chosen as an operational age cutoff to identify premenopausal women who are less likely to bear children, as well as peri- and postmenopausal women.

Methods: We conducted a literature search after discussions with a diverse panel of content experts and other stakeholders and developed an evidence map that identified 890 citations that address questions having to do with programs and barriers to engaging with programs, as well as the role of insurance and comorbidities, and have enrolled older women who live with HIV/AIDS.

Results: Of these, only 37 (4%) reported results of interest for women over 40 who live with HIV/AIDS, or examined interactions between gender and older age that would allow predictions in this subgroup. Few of the 37 eligible studies focused on women facing obvious challenges, such as immigrants, transgender, physically abused, or those recently released from prison. No studies focused on women caring for dependents, including children and grandchildren, or those diagnosed after age 40.

Conclusion: The evidence base that is directly applicable to women over 40 who live with HIV/AIDS in the USA is limited, and the research need is broad. We propose research prioritization strategies for this population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

Not applicable

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA literature flowchart [61]. * “Not relevant”: these studies were excluded on the grounds of more than one reason (e.g., did not describe eligible outcomes of eligible programs in an eligible population)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Berkelman RL, Heyward WL, Stehr-Green JK, Curran JW. Epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Am J Med. 1989;86:761–770. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(89)90470-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. CDC. Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas, 2015. HIV Surveillance Report. 2015;27:1–114.
    1. CDC. Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas, 2008. HIV Surveillance Report. 2008;20:1–143
    1. High KP, Brennan-Ing M, Clifford DB, Cohen MH, Currier J, Deeks SG, Deren S, Effros RB, Gebo K, Goronzy JJ, et al. HIV and aging: state of knowledge and areas of critical need for research. A report to the NIH Office of AIDS Research by the HIV and aging working group. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2012;60(Suppl 1):S1–18. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31825a3668. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guaraldi G, Zona S, Brothers TD, Carli F, Stentarelli C, Dolci G, Santoro A, Beghetto B, Menozzi M, Mussini C, Falutz J. Aging with HIV vs. HIV seroconversion at older age: a diverse population with distinct comorbidity profiles. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0118531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118531. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types