Next-Generation Methods for HIV Partner Services: A Systematic Review.
Partner notification is a widely accepted method whose intent is to limit onward HIV transmission. With increasing use of new technologies such as text messaging, e-mail, and social network sites, there is growing interest in using these techniques for "next-generation" HIV partner services (PS). We conducted a systematic review to assess the use and effectiveness of these technologies in HIV PS. Our literature search resulted in 1343 citations, with 7 meeting inclusion criteria. We found programs in 2 domains: (1) Public Health Department usage of new technologies to augment traditional partner notification (n = 3) and (2) patient or provider-led usage of partner notification Web sites (n = 4) The health department-based efforts showed an ability to find new cases in a previously unreachable population but in the limited comparisons to traditional PS had a lower rate of successful contact. Usage data from the partner notification Web sites revealed a high total number of e-notifications sent, with less than 10% of cards sent for HIV. Clear evidence on outcomes and directly traceable utilization for these Web services was lacking. When given a choice, most clients chose to send e-notifications via text versus e-mail. Although successful notification may be lower overall, use of next-generation services provides an avenue to contact those who would previously have been untraceable. Additional research is needed to determine to what extent technology-enhanced PS improves the identification of newly infected persons as well as the initiation of new prevention interventions for HIV-negative clients within high-risk networks.
From the *Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; †Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL; ‡Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, Chicago, IL; and §Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, IL.
Chad H
CH
Hochberg
Kathryn
K
Berringer
John A
JA
Schneider
D016358:Contact Tracing / Q000379:methods*; D037001:Directive Counseling; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D012747:Sexual Partners; D060145:Text Messaging