| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Abdissa 2014 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (PCR laboratory assay) |
| Acharya 2014 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| ACTRN12618001340224 | Ineligible study type: protocol |
| Afani 2005 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL |
| Agutu 2019 | Ineligible study type: systematic review |
| Aleku 2014 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Amendola 2020 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (Aptima HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Anderson 2011 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Anyiwo 2014 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Audu 2015 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (HIV rapid antibody tests) |
| Avidor 2017 | Sample‐level analysis: 383 samples from 283 patients |
| Avila 2000a | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (branched DNA signal amplification test (bDNA)) |
| Avila 2000b | Duplicate |
| Balachandra 2020 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (HIV rapid antibody tests) |
| Barbara 2017 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Bastos 2016 | Ineligible study type: conference abstract with incomplete data |
| Bélec 2011 | Ineligible study type: perspective/personal view |
| Berry 2014 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (IFAST, an RNA extraction test technique) |
| Borysiak 2016 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Brook 2018 | Ineligible study type: editorial |
| Bruzzone 2017 | Ineligible study type: 2‐gated design with HIV‐negative controls |
| Chibwesha 2016a | Ineligible study type: protocol |
| Chibwesha 2016b | Duplicate |
| Cogswell 2016 | Ineligible study type: editorial |
| Craik 2016 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (PCR laboratory assay) |
| Damhorst 2013 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Damond 2001 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (light cycler real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Désiré 2001 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (TaqMan real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Dorward 2017 | Ineligible study type: protocol |
| Dorward 2018 | Ineligible study type: perspective/personal view |
| Drain 2017 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Drain 2019 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Drain 2020 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Duarte 2017 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Fidler 2017 | Ineligible study type: 2‐gated design with HIV‐negative controls |
| Ganesh 2021 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Geretti 2009 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Gurrala 2016 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Haleyur Giri Setty 2014 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Harries 2010 | Ineligible study type: perspective/personal view |
| Hopkins 2015 | Ineligible index test: not POC test (Aptima HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Ibrahim 2017 | Ineligible target condition: detection of HIV‐1 infection |
| ISRCTN12803987(a) | Ineligible study type: protocol |
| ISRCTN12803987(b) | Duplicate |
| Jangam 2013 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Kabir 2020 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Kahn 2013 | Ineligible study type: editorial |
| Laursen 2012 | Ineligible study type: perspective/personal view |
| Lee 2010a | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Lee 2010b | Duplicate |
| Luliano 1995 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL |
| Mani 1999 | Ineligible study type: letter to the editor |
| Manoto 2018 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Mariani 2020 | Sample‐level analysis: 413 samples from 273 patients |
| Masuko 2016 | Ineligible study type: conference abstract with incomplete data |
| Millar 2020 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Moyo 2016 | Ineligible population: exclusively ART‐naive population retrieved from a household survey |
| Moyo 2019 | Ineligible study type: conference abstract with incomplete data |
| Moyo 2020 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Nacarapa 2019 | Ineligible study type: conference abstract with incomplete data |
| Nash 2017 | Inability to construct 2 x 2 table: correlation study results |
| Nash 2018 | Ineligible study type: systematic review |
| NCT00929604 | Protocol |
| NCT02461576 | Protocol |
| NCT03066128 | Protocol |
| NCT03066128b | Duplicate |
| NCT03187964 | Protocol |
| NCT03288246(a) | Protocol |
| NCT03288246(b) | Duplicate |
| NCT03533868 | Protocol |
| NCT03553693(a) | Protocol |
| NCT03553693(b) | Protocol |
| NCT04517825 | Ineligible study type: protocol |
| Ndlovu 2018 | Ineligible study design: not accuracy study |
| Newman 2020 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Nicholas 2019 | Íneligible study design: not accuracy study |
| Ondiek 2017 | Ineligible target condition |
| Peter 2017 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Phillips 2016 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Ritchie 2016 | Ineligible target condition: detection of HIV‐1 subtype |
| Rossetti 2020 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (Aptima HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Rowley 2014 | Ineligible study type: review |
| Sacks 2019 | Ineligible study type: systematic review |
| Schalasta 2016 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (Aptima HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Schønning 2017 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (Aptima HIV‐1 real‐time PCR laboratory assay) |
| Scott 2015 | Ineligible index test: Liat HIV Quant plasma (test discontinued, not applicable) |
| Solomon 2016 | Ineligible index test: not POC VL (HIV antibody rapid tests) |
| Tanriverdi 2010 | Ineligible study design: not accuracy study |
| Titchmarsh 2015 | Ineligible index test: accuracy of a method, leukodepletion of a small whole blood volume |
| Vasconcellos 2020 | Inability to construct 2 x 2 tables |
| Villa 2020 | Ineligible study type: not accuracy study |
| Whitlock 2020 | Ineligible target condition: detection of HIV‐1 infection |
Abbreviations: POC VL: point‐of‐care viral load; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; RNA: ribonucleic acid.