Global Mapping of Interventions to Improve the Quality of Life of People Living with HIV/AIDS: Implications for Priority Settings

Enhancing the quality of life (QOL) of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) has become a significant global health goal, as combination antiretroviral therapy has helped to transform HIV/AIDS from a fatal illness to chronic disease. In this study, we aim to comprehensively describe the growth of research publications and the development of research landscapes regarding interventions to improve QOL among PLWH, as well as to characterize interdisciplinary topics and emerging interests of the research community. English articles and reviews published from 1991 to 2018 concerning interventions to improve QOL among PLWHA were retrieved from the Web of Science. Collaboration among organizations sharing coauthorships and co-occurrence network of authors' keywords was illustrated through network graphs. Latent Dirichlet Allocation was used for classifying papers into corresponding topics. A total of 2304 publications were included in the study. The USA continues to lead in research productivity, followed by South Africa, China, and India. Emerging research themes were found to be the application of multilevel interventions and long-term care, rehabilitation, along with topics relating to mental health issues, behavioral therapy and social supports for patients receiving treatments, and application of e-health approaches in designing and implementing interventions. There has been, however, a modest appearance of topics covering local, cultural, and environmental contexts of interventions. The findings of the study suggest expanding the coverage of psychosocial, behavioral, and contextualized interventions, increasing the involvement of family and community, improving the effectiveness of technology-based and e-health interventions, and developing strategies for lifelong treatment of HIV/AIDS.