No abstract

KEY MESSAGES eHealth should support the transition towards personalized medicine, self-management and shared decisions in primary care. Several conditions need to be met to ensure that eHealth applications are safe, evidence-based and of high quality. Innovative but valid research methodology-e.g. adaptive (action research) designs-is a prerequisite for ongoing success and sustainability of eHealth.

In this systematic review and meta-analysis we investigated the effectiveness of different psychosocial treatments for people living with HIV (PLWH) and mental health problems. Additionally, characteristics that may influence the effectiveness of a treatment (e.g., treatment duration) were studied. PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase were searched for randomized controlled trials on psychosocial interventions for PLWH. Depression, anxiety, quality of life, and psychological well-being were investigated as treatment outcome measures. Sixty-two studies were included in the meta-analysis. It was found that psychosocial interventions for PLWH had a small positive effect on mental health (ĝ = 0.19, 95% CI [0.13, 0.25]). Furthermore, there was evidence for publication bias. Six characteristics influenced the effectiveness of a treatment for depression. For example, larger effects were found for studies with psychologists as treatment providers. To conclude, this systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that psychosocial interventions have a beneficial effect for PLWH with mental health problems.

Aids Fonds.

About 40 per cent of people living with HIV do not sufficiently adhere to their medication regimen, which adversely affects their health. The current meta-analysis investigated the effect of psychosocial interventions on medication adherence in people living with HIV. Databases were systematically searched, resulting in 43 included randomized controlled trials. Study and intervention characteristics were investigated as moderators. The overall effect size indicates a small to moderate positive effect (Hedges' g = 0.37) of psychosocial interventions on medication adherence in people living with HIV. No evidence for publication bias was found. This meta-analysis study concludes that various psychosocial interventions can improve medication adherence and thereby the health of people living with HIV.