A systematic review of preventive interventions for HIV/AIDS in high-risk adults

HIV/AIDS is a significant public health problem in the United States and all over the world.  Many preventive interventions exist for persons who are most at risk for HIV infections, however many interventions are widely underutilized.  The purpose of this article was to systematically review interventions for prevention of HIV/AIDS in high-risk adults and offer suggestions for improving future interventions.  Included were English language articles indexed in CINAHL, ERIC, and MEDLINE databases from 1998 to 2013 involving prevention interventions with adults, worldwide, focused on preventative aspects, in any setting, with any quantitative design for evaluation.  A total of eight different interventions met these criteria.  Of these prevention interventions for HIV/AIDS, four were from United States and one each from China, Chile, Ethiopia, and South Africa.  Majority of interventions used behavioral theories (some used multiple theories) that included social cognitive theory, health belief model, theory of planned behavior, transtheoretical model, social norms model, protection motivation theory, and diffusion of innovations theory.  The interventions have been implemented with college students (n=2), drug users (n=2), traditional healers, rural illiterate women, men having sex with men, and victims of intimate partner violence.  The evaluation designs have ranged from pre-test post-test design to quasi -experimental design to correlational design.  Results demonstrated the effectiveness of providing coordinated prevention interventions that enhanced knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among participants post intervention.  Recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of future interventions are provided.