Community Based HIV Prevention Interventions in Africa: A Systematic Review

This systematic review is the first to examine the characteristics of community-based HIV prevention interventions, specifically the theoretical underpinning, type and number of components, dose, mode of delivery, and teaching method; and explore the effects of the intervention characteristics on HIV-related knowledge and engagement in risk behaviour among young persons in Africa. A total of 5 studies were included in this review. Conceptual and operational definitions of the intervention characteristics guided the coding and extraction of data from the reports. The overall results of this study showed variability in theoretical underpinning, dose, and mode of delivery of interventions. Multi-component interventions using mixed teaching method produced the desired effect on knowledge and risk behaviour. The examination of community based HIV prevention intervention characteristics provides direction for the development of efficient future interventions to decrease the transmission of HIV among young persons in Africa.