Table 4.
Summary of 20 included articles in this review
| First author and year | Title | Study design | Sample characteristics | Country | Methods | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algarin et al., 2020 | Symptoms, Stress, and HIV-Related Care Among Older People Living with HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Miami, Florida | Clinical trial – Survey | Older PLHIV (n = 16) | Miami, FL, USA | Recruitment clinical trial on mind–body intervention for older PLHIV. 16 of 24 participants completed questionnaire on related factors of COVID-19 | Responses given on symptoms as well as access to HIV and services as well as Covid-19 stress. On scale of 1–10 of Covid-19 related stress, mean response was 4.4 (± 3.3) |
| Berman et al., 2020 | Social Distancing to Mitigate COVID-19 Risks Is Associated With COVID-19 Discriminatory Attitudes Among People Living with HIV | Cross-sectional survey | PLHIV (n = 149) | Atlanta, GA, USA | Participants surveyed to assess social distancing practices, COVID-19 discriminatory attitudes, COVID-19 xenophobic attitudes, HIV microaggressions, and concern over contracting COVID-19 | Those who chose to socially distance exhibited increased COVID-19 discriminatory attitudes |
| Bogart et al., 2021 | COVID-19 Related Medical Mistrust, Health Impacts, and Potential Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black Americans Living with HIV | Telephone survey of existing RCT participants | African American PLHIV (n = 101; 86% cisgender men, 77% sexual minority) | Los Angeles County, CA, USA | Participants enrolled in an RCT of ART adherence completed telephone interviews on negative COVID-19 impacts, mistrust and vaccine hesitancy, | 97% (n = 98) of participants endorsed at least one COVID-19 mistrust belief and > 50% vaccine or treatment hesitancy(n = 55) |
| Cooley et al., 2021 | Collateral damage: Impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in people living with HIV | Telephone survey of existing study participants | PLHIV (n = 133; mean age 50.3, sd 12.7) & HIV- (n = 54; mean age 48.5/ sd 14.1) of similar demographics and age | St Louis, MO, USA | Questionnaire issued via phone and email to participants from previous studies. Questions related to social isolation, financial burden, mental health and substance use | PLHIV experienced greater financial stress (Financial stress rating scale (0–10) 5.4 vs 3.2; p = 0.001) and decreased access to medical care compared with people not living with HIV (13.5% vs 3.7%; p < 0.001) |
| Gwadz et al., 2021 | Black and Latino Persons Living with HIV Evidence Risk and Resilience in the Context of COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Early Phase of the Pandemic | Larger study involving intervention addressing barriers to HIV care plus in-depth interviews | African American/Black or Latino (AABL) PLHIV (n = 96) for first phase and 26 recruited for in-depth interviews | New York City, NY, USA | Structured interviews conducted on social impacts of COVID-19 including food security, employment and HIV care access | 43% (n = 42) showed indication of COVID-19 related extreme poverty including food insecurity and unemployment. Almost half of participants did not have permanent housing |
| Hammoud et al., 2020 | Physical distancing due to COVID-19 disrupts sexual behaviors among gay and bisexual men in Australia: Implications for trends in HIV and other sexually transmissible infections | Cohort study | MSM aged 18 – 81 years (n = 940) including 74 living with HIV (7.9%) | Australia | Participants responded to questions measuring changes in sexual behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic | 15.8% (n = 93) continued to have sex with casual partners during COVID-19 events, down from 62.4% (n = 587) |
| Hochstatter et al., 2020 | Potential Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Drug Use and HIV Care Among People Living with HIV and Substance Use Disorders: Experience from a Pilot mHealth Intervention | Cross-sectional survey | PLHIV identified as at-risk of missing HIV care by clinic (n = 64) | WI, USA | Participants were sent weekly surveys through an mHealth app, A-CHESS | PLHIV and those with substance use disorder exhibited increased substance use (10% vs 18%; OR = 2.09; p = 0.181) and contact with other substance using individuals (6% vs 12%; OR = 2.53; p = 0.060) |
| Jones et al., 2021 | Mental Health, Coping, and Social Support Among People Living with HIV in the Americas: A Comparative Study Between Argentina and the USA During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic | Cross-sectional survey | PLHIV (n = 1554; 63.7% male) | USA & Argentina | An anonymous survey was administered by phone to participants recruited through collaborative studies. Questions pertained to depressive symptoms, social support and resilience of PLHIV during the COVID-19 pandemic | In Argentina, higher social support and resilient coping methods were associated with lower depressive symptoms. This relationship was not the same in the USA, where depressive symptoms were high regardless of resilient coping |
| Kalichman et al., 2020 | Intersecting Pandemics: Impact of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Protective Behaviors on People Living With HIV, Atlanta, Georgia | Longitudinal Study – Rapid response interview | Men and Women living with HIV, aged 20–37 (n = 162) | Atlanta, GA, USA | Participants completed routine study measures and an assessment of COVID-19–related experiences | Social responses to Covid-19 affected HIV care and access |
| Krier et al., 2020 | Assessing HIV-Related Stigma in Healthcare Settings in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Cross-sectional Survey with open ended questions | PLHIV who are recipients of AIDS Drug Assistance Program (n = 16) | Philadelphia, PA, USA | Participants surveyed on concerns for future healthcare needs as well as concerns and things to look forward to about next healthcare related experience | Majority of responses expressed concern and worry about COVID-19 and disruption of HIV services |
| Kuman TunÇel et al., 2020 | COVID-19 related anxiety in people living with HIV: An online cross-sectional study | Online cross-sectional survey | PLHIV (n = 307) | Turkey | Questionnaire conducted including questions about sociodemographic status, information about HIV infection, and Beck Anxiety Inventory | 42.3% felt that they would face more complications living with HIV if they acquired COVID-19 (n = 130). 1/4 participants were anxious (n = 79) |
| Meyerowitz et al., 2020 | Disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among racial minorities and those in congregate settings among a large cohort of people with HIV | Case series | PLHIV diagnosed with COVID-19 (n = 36) | MA, USA | Cases of PLHIV infected with COVID-19 were identified and data analysed for similarities | Although Caucasian PLHIV made up 50% of the clinical population, positive cases of COVID-19 within the cohort were 77.7% African American or Latino |
| Poteat et al., 2020 | COVID-19 Vulnerability of Transgender Women with and Without HIV Infection in the Eastern and Southern U.S | Cohort study | Transgender women with and without HIV (n = 1020; 273 living with HIV) | USA | Baseline data from American Cohort to Study HIV Acquisition Among Transgender Women in High-Risk Areas (LITE) Study | Transgender participants living with and without HIV experienced varying rates of poverty (66.3% vs. 38.7%, p < 0.001), unemployment (76.6% vs. 45.2%; p < 0.001), food insecurity (63.7% vs. 42.5%; p < 0.001) and homelessness (17.5% vs. 11.4%; p = 0.02) |
| Rao et al., 2021 | Perceived interruptions to HIV prevention and treatment services associated with COVID-19 for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in 20 countries | Cross sectional survey | MSM recruited via Hornet app across 20 countries (n = 10,654; 10.4% living with HIV) | 20 countries via Hornet app (Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, UK, USA) | Cross sectional survey conducted on impacts of COVID-19 on economic and health indicators including | Stringency of country government varied. HIV care access disruption reported in one fifth of participants living with HIV (n = 218). Access to HIV prescription more difficult in LMICs compared with higher income countries |
| Rhodes et al., 2020 | A Rapid Qualitative Assessment of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV in the US South | Qualitative study – semi structured interview | Racially/ethnically diverse cisgender men living with HIV (n = 15) | NC, USA | Semi-structured interviews were conducted with transcripts coded into common themes | 17 themes emerged from the interviews and categorised into six domains: knowledge and perception of COVID-19, information sources, impact on behaviours, impact on health, impact on social determinants of health and general COVID-19 related concerns |
| Sanchez et al., 2020 | Characterizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Men Who Have Sex with Men Across the United States in April, 2020 | Rapid online survey | US men who have sex with men (MSM) (n = 1051 including 122 living with HIV) | USA (online) | MSM were surveyed on impacts of COVID-19 on wellbeing, sexual and substance use behaviour, HIV prevention and treatment | The participants reported the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing, income and employment, substance use and sexual behaviour |
| Santos et al., 2020 | Economic, Mental Health, HIV Prevention and HIV Treatment Impacts of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Response on a Global Sample of Cisgender Gay Men and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men | Cross-sectional survey | MSM (n = 2732 including 473 living with HIV) | Global via social media (103 countries including France, Russia and Taiwan) | Questionnaire sent to users of gay social networking app, Hornet. Questions related to economic, psychological and social impacts of COVID-19 | COVID-19 has impacted employment and financial benefit as well as mental health and access to HIV care |
| Siewe Fodjo et al., 2020 | Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical follow-up and psychosocial well-being of people living with HIV: A cross-sectional survey | Cross-sectional survey | PLHIV (n = 317) | Responses originated from participants in 32 countries with majority from Belgium (n = 102; 32.2%) and Brazil (n = 89; 28.1%) | Cross sectional survey issued to PLHIV using a web based multilingual questionnaire | 23.3% screened positive for depression (n = 74) and 22.7% for general anxiety disorders (n = 72). 17.7% of participants reported disruption to HIV care and medication access (n = 56) |
| Stephenson et al., 2020 | Sex in the Time of COVID-19: Results of an Online Survey of Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men’s Experience of Sex and HIV Prevention During the US COVID-19 Epidemic | Cross -sectional survey | Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) (n = 518) including 45 living with HIV) | USA (online) | Survey sent via gay social and dating apps on impacts of COVID-19 on sexual behaviours, substance use and HIV care access and telehealth | Mean number of sexual partners increased during pandemic regardless of majority believing COVID-19 is sexually transmitted. Increased substance use associated with change in number of sexual partners (0.722 (SE = .210)) |
| Stephenson et al., 2020 | Contrasting the Perceived Severity of COVID-19 and HIV Infection in an Online Survey of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men During the U.S. COVID-19 Epidemic | Cross -sectional survey | Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) (n = 518) including 45 living with HIV) | USA (online) | Survey sent via gay social and dating apps on impacts of COVID-19 on sexual behaviours, substance use and HIV care access and telehealth | Mean number of sexual partners increased during pandemic regardless of majority believing COVID-19 is sexually transmitted |