Sok P, Seeman MV, Rourke SB. Study characteristics on health-related quality of life in older people living with human immunodeficiency virus: A narrative review. World J Virol 2025; 14(3): 111071 [DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v14.i3.111071]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Phan Sok, MD, Academic Fellow, Doctorate Student, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical-Science, University of Toronto, One King’s College Circle, Toronto M5S 1A8, Ontario, Canada. phan.sok@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Social Sciences, Biomedical
Article-Type of This Article
Systematic Reviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Virol. Sep 25, 2025; 14(3): 111071 Published online Sep 25, 2025. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v14.i3.111071
Study characteristics on health-related quality of life in older people living with human immunodeficiency virus: A narrative review
Phan Sok, Mary V Seeman, Sean B Rourke
Phan Sok, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical-Science, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1A8, Ontario, Canada
Mary V Seeman, Sean B Rourke, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto M5T 1R8, Ontario, Canada
Sean B Rourke, MAP, Center for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto M5B 1W8, Ontario, Canada
Author contributions: Sok P researched the content, conceived the idea, and designed the narrative review as part of his doctoral studies at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He conducted the literature search, evaluated the narrative review process and results, drafted the initial manuscript, and revised the manuscript. Seeman VS and Rourke SB provided critical input, reviewed, and edited the first draft and subsequent revisions of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Phan Sok, MD, Academic Fellow, Doctorate Student, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical-Science, University of Toronto, One King’s College Circle, Toronto M5S 1A8, Ontario, Canada. phan.sok@gmail.com
Received: June 23, 2025 Revised: August 2, 2025 Accepted: September 2, 2025 Published online: September 25, 2025 Processing time: 95 Days and 7.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are aging as a result the benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy.
AIM
To provide descriptions of eligible existing studies on demographics, methodologies, and outcome measures related to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the context of HIV and aging.
METHODS
The MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases were systematically searched using the terms HIV, age, and HRQoL to find studies published between January 1995 and June 2022. Key variables of the eligible studies were identified and categorized into demographics (e.g., study sites, study year), methodologies (e.g., use of conceptual frameworks, measures used), and outcome measures [e.g., HRQoL, quality of life (QoL)]. The PRISMA 2009 checklist was followed.
RESULTS
A total of 68 published studies involving 53504 participants were included. The majority of the studies (55.88%) were conducted in North America, with relatively few studies conducted in Africa. The median age of participants was 51.0 years (IQR = 11.0). Over one-third (32.56%) of all participants were older people living with HIV aged 50 years and older Four studies included only older female participants, and six studies included only men who have sex with men. Outcome measures were assessed as HRQoL (26.47%) or QoL (36.76%). Overall, data from African studies, older women living with HIV, socioeconomic status (e.g., employment, income, education), sexual behavioral risks, theoretical frameworks used, and follow-up studies were limited.
CONCLUSION
This narrative review highlights imbalances and gaps in research on HRQoL in the context of HIV and aging, providing direction for future studies in this area.
Core Tip: This narrative review aims to identify gaps in current studies on health-related quality of life in the context of human immunodeficiency virus and aging. It focuses on demographics, methodologies, and outcomes to provide a comprehensive understanding of existing research gaps for future studies in this area. The review reveals imbalances and limitations including study locations, demographics, sample sizes, utilization of conceptual frameworks, measuring instruments, and determinants associated with outcomes.
