title: The state of disparities in opportunistic infection prophylaxis for blacks with HIV/AIDS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this review is to identify and analyze published studies that have evaluated disparities for opportunistic infection (OI) prophylaxis between blacks and whites with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors conducted a web-based search of MEDLINE (1950-2009) to identify original research articles evaluating the use of OI prophylaxis between blacks and whites with HIV/AIDS. The search was conducted utilizing the following MeSH headings and search terms alone and in combination: HIV, AIDS, Black, race, ethnicity, disparities, differences, access, opportunistic infection, and prophylaxis. The search was then expanded to include any relevant articles from the referenced citations of the articles that were retrieved from the initial search strategy. Of the 29 articles retrieved from the literature search, 19 articles were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten publications met inclusion criteria, collectively published between 1991 and 2005. The collective time periods of these studies spanned from 1987 to 2001. Four studies identified a race-based disparity in that blacks were less likely than whites to use OI prophylaxis, whereas 5 studies failed to identify such a relationship between race and OI prophylaxis. One study identified disparities for Mycobacterium avium complex prophylaxis, but not for Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia prophylaxis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The evidence regarding race-based disparities in OI prophylaxis is inconclusive. Additional research is warranted to explore potential race-based disparities in OI prophylaxis.
authors.affiliation: UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2215 Kerr Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7573, USA. oramsc@unc.edu
authors.forename: Christine U
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Oramasionwu
authors.forename: Jim M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Koeller
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Carolyn M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Gene D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Frei
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*