Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Apr 11, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 11, 2025 - Jun 6, 2025
Date Accepted: Jul 23, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Viral load suppression among undisclosed adolescents aged 10-19 living with HIV: A scoping review protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Vertical transmission of HIV is prevalent among adolescents globally. Most of the adolescents living with HIV were infected with HIV during pregnancy and through breastfeeding. Though disclosure of HIV status by the primary caregiver is recommended to begin when the child reaches the age of eight years and older, disclosure hesitancy remains a challenge, resulting in the adolescent taking antiretroviral medication without informed knowledge.
Objective:
This review study will be aimed to synthesize the best available studies at describing the magnitude of viral load suppression associated with undisclosed HIV status among adolescent adolescents aged 10-19 years old living with HIV.
Methods:
This study will conduct evidence synthesis from the published literature about a research question regarding viral load suppression associated with undisclosed HIV status among adolescents living with HIV. The Population, Concept and Context (PCC) framework will be considered more useful in guiding this study. Search for various studies will be performed in PubMed, Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, and Science Direct from 2010 to 2024.
Results:
A coding framework for qualitative studies will be developed, whereas summarised in tables, charts, and diagrams as captured from the data will be done. The findings will be key in informing practices, programs, and decision-making for the integration of services among adolescents living with unknown HIV status and to facilitate the issue of HIV disclosure for undetectable viral load achievement.
Conclusions:
This study will shed light on the magnitude of viral load suppression associated with undisclosed HIV status among adolescents who acquired the infection through vertical transmission. The findings of this review will enhance the HIV disclosure for adolescent guidelines to improve the management and care regarding the challenge and to reduce HIV infection among adolescents and youth. Clinical Trial: none
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.