Table 1.

Summary table of studies included in the meta-analysis

Study	Study objective	Country	Population	Coverage period	Study design	STI	STI assessment method	Number of participants	Individuals included in meta-analysis	HIV viral load measure	HIV VL anatimical site
Adolf 2012 [31]	Prevalence and risk factors for syphilis among HIV+	Brazil	Females and males; STI/HIV clinic patients-SoBrHIV cohort	1991–2008	Case-control	Tp	VDRL, FTA	1012	759	Not reported	Blood plasma
Anderson 2008 [32]	Association between presence of inflammatory	USA	Females; STI/HIV clinic patients	Not reported	Prospective cohort	Bv Ct Cv Ng Tp Tv	Bv: Amsel	97	41	RNA	Blood and CVL
							Ct, Ng: culture
							Cv: visual exam
							Tv: wet mount
							Tp: RPR
Conley 2010 [33]	Prevalence and risk factors for abnormal anal cytology among HIV+	USA	Females and males; STI/HIV clinic patients - SUN study	2004–2006	Prospective cohort	Ct HPV HSV Ng Tp Tv	HPV, Ng, Ct: NAAT, cytological	621	147	RNA	Not reported
							Tv: NAAT
							HSV2: serology
Chan 2008 [12]	Correlation between HIV VL in blood and semen among men both ART naive and experienced	Australia	Males; STI/HIV clinic patients	2003–2006	Prospective cohort	Ct Ng Tp	Ct: NAAT	119	81	RNA	Blood and semen
							Ng: culture
							Tp: Fabs + RPR
Cu-Uvin 2001 [26]	Impact of genital tract infections on HIV cervicovaginal shedding	USA	Females; STI/HIV clinic patients	Not reported	Prospective cohort	Bv Cv Tv	Bv: Amsel	108	61	RNA	Blood and CVL
							Cv, Tv: culture
Graham 2011 [34]	Impact of genital ulcerations on HIV genital shedding	Kenya	Females; STI/HIV clinic patients	2004–2008	Prospective cohort nested	Bv Ct Cv Hd Ng Tp Tv	Tv: wet mount	145	37	RNA	Cervix and vagina
							Bv: Nugent
							Cv: not reported
							Ng: culture + NAAT
							Ct: NAAT
							Hd: culture
							Tp: serology
Jarzebowski 2012 [35]	Impact of syphilis on CD4 and HIV VL	France	Males; MSM-FHDH cohort	1998–2006	Case-control	Tp	Not reported	1515	1271	RNA	Blood plasma
Kofoed 2006 [36]	Impact of Syphilis infection on CD4, HIV VL and response after anti-treponemal treatment	Denmark	Males; MSM	2003–2004	Prospective experimental	Tp	Dark field, serology	38	34	RNA	Blood plasma
Madeddu 2014 [41]	HPV screening should be done even on HIV-positive women on ART	Italy	Females; STI/HIV clinic patients	2008–2009	Prospective cohort	HPV	NAAT	57	52	RNA	Blood plasma
Politch 2012 [37]	Prevalence of seminal HIV shedding among MSM on ART	USA	Males; MSM	Not reported	Prospective cohort	Ct HSV Ng Tp NGU	HSV: serology	101	96	DNA and RNA free and RNA assoc	Semen
							Ct, Ng, Tp: not reported
Sadiq 2002 [38]	Effect of urethritis on seminal HIV VL for patients on ART	UK	Males; MSM	1998–2000	Prospective cohort	Ct Ng NGU	Ng: culture	40	39	RNA and DNA	Blood and semen
							Ct: NAAT
Sha 2005 [39]	Association of Bv and Bv-associated bacteria with HIV genital VL	USA	Females; STI/HIV clinic patients	1994–1997	Prospective cohort	Bv Ct Cv HPV HSV Ng Tp Tv	Bv: Amsel + Nugent	362	107	RNA	Blood and CVL
							Tp: symptoms + DFA
							Ct, Ng: culture + pap
							HSV: symptoms + pap
							HPV: NAAT
Sudenga 2012 [40]	HSV2 epidemiology in HIV+/at risk adolescents	USA	Females and males; adolescent; REACH cohort	1996–2000	Case-control	Bv Ct Hd HPV HSV Ng Tp Tv	HSV2: serology	513	60	RNA	Blood plasma
							Ct, Ng, HPV: NAAT
							Bv: gram stain + clinical criteria
							Tv: culture
Winter 1999 [10]	Impact of asymptomatic urtethritis on HIV VL in semen	UK	Males; STI/HIV clinic patients	Not reported	Prospective cohort	Ct Ng NGU	Ng: Gram stain, culture	94	53	RNA cell free	Blood and semen
							Ct: NAAT

MSM: men who have sex with men

Bv Bacterial vaginosis, Cv Candidal vaginitis, Ct Chlamydia trachomatis, HPV, human papillomavirus, HSV human simplex virus type 2, Ng Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Tp Treponema pallidum, Tv Trichomonas vaginalis, Ur urethritis