WHO/HIV/2013.70 © World Health Organization 2013
This work was commissioned by the World Health Organization and carried out by The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Cochrane Review Group on HIV/AIDS 1
GRADE tables: Electronic reminders for promoting adherence to ART among people living with HIV – Observational studies
Author(s): Horvath T Date: 2012-08-23
Question: Should mobile phone text messages be used for promoting adherence to antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV?
Settings: Italy, United States of America Bibliography: Ammassari 2011, Dowshen 2012
Quality assessment No. of patients Effect
Quality Importance No. of
studies Design Risk of
bias Inconsistency Indirectness Imprecision Other considerations
Mobile phone
text messages Control Relative
(95% CI) Absolute
Viral load suppression at 36 weeks
1 observational studies
no serious risk of bias
no serious inconsistency
no serious indirectness
serious1 none 94/123
(76.4%)
61/145 (42.1%)
RR 0.41 (0.28 to 0.61)
248 fewer per 1000 (from 164 fewer to
303 fewer)
⊕ΟΟΟ VERY LOW
CRITICAL
ART adherence at 24–36 weeks
2 observational studies
no serious risk of bias
no serious inconsistency
serious2 serious1 none 99/127
(78%)
53/170 (31.2%)
RR 0.33 (0.23 to 0.46)
209 fewer per 1000 (from 168 fewer to
240 fewer)
⊕ΟΟΟ VERY LOW
CRITICAL
1 Few events.
2 Self-reported adherence.
