Adepoju VA, Umebido C, Adelekan A, Onoja AJ. Acceptability and strategies for enhancing uptake of human immunodeficiency virus self-testing in Nigeria. World J Methodol 2023; 13(3): 127-141 [PMID: 37456976 DOI: 10.5662/wjm.v13.i3.127]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ademola Adelekan, DrPH, Researcher, Department of Public Health and Biological Sciences, Blue Gate Research Institute, Ibadan 200116, Oyo State, Nigeria. ademolaadelekan@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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 Methodol. Jun 20, 2023; 13(3): 127-141 Published online Jun 20, 2023. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v13.i3.127
Acceptability and strategies for enhancing uptake of human immunodeficiency virus self-testing in Nigeria
Victor Abiola Adepoju, Chidinma Umebido, Ademola Adelekan, Ali Johnson Onoja
Victor Abiola Adepoju, Chidinma Umebido, Department of HIV and Infectious Diseases, Self testing in Africa (STAR) Project, Jhpiego Nigeria, Abuja 900901, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
Ademola Adelekan, Department of Public Health and Biological Sciences, Blue Gate Research Institute, Ibadan 200116, Oyo State, Nigeria
Ali Johnson Onoja, Department of Research, African Health Project, Abuja 900901, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
Author contributions: Adepoju VA and Adelekan A conceived the study; Onoja AJ provided overall guidance to the study; Adelekan A, Umebido C, and Adepoju VA conducted screening and led data extraction; Adelekan A and Onoja AJ drafted the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: Ademola Adelekan, DrPH, Researcher, Department of Public Health and Biological Sciences, Blue Gate Research Institute, Ibadan 200116, Oyo State, Nigeria. ademolaadelekan@gmail.com
Received: January 5, 2023 Peer-review started: January 5, 2023 First decision: March 15, 2023 Revised: April 1, 2023 Accepted: April 27, 2023 Article in press: April 27, 2023 Published online: June 20, 2023 Processing time: 166 Days and 0.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Nigeria has a high burden of human immunodeficiency (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and a significant proportion of infected individuals remain untested due to fear of stigma and discrimination. HIV self-testing (HIVST) is recommended by the World Health Organization as a tool for improving testing uptake and achieving the United Nations Programme on HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome 90-90-90 target. However, HIVST is still a growing intervention in Nigeria, and there is a need to systematically review its acceptability and uptake in the country.
Research motivation
To systematically review the acceptability, existing regulations, and strategies for enhancing the uptake of HIVST in Nigeria.
Research objectives
To fill a crucial gap in understanding the HIVST landscape in Nigeria and provide insights into the evidence base on the acceptability and uptake of HIVST in the country.
Research methods
A systematic literature review was conducted, and 18 articles were included in the analysis.
Research results
The study found that the acceptability of HIVST is generally high in Nigeria from the intention-to-use perspective. However, the actual use of HIVST in programmatic implementation was lower than expected. The study recommends more controlled implementation studies to test the acceptability of HIVST and to explore factors responsible for poor uptake. The use of key opinion leaders among key populations has been found to be successful in increasing the acceptability and uptake of HIVST. However, cost remains a major barrier to the acceptability of HIVST among pharmacy retail outlets.
Research conclusions
The present study provided crucial understanding of the HIVST landscape in Nigeria, which is young and evolving. The study highlighted the need for further high-quality research in this area and recommended innovative financing approaches targeting different population segments for effective scaling of HIVST under the total market approach.
Research perspectives
More studies are required to evaluate how the uptake of HIVST compares in routine programs vs real-life settings in the absence of support and resources that enhance HIVST uptake. Overall, this study contributed to the current knowledge base on HIVST in Nigeria and highlighted the need for further high-quality research in this area.
