SynthesisPloS one2014
Systematic review of the use of dried blood spots for monitoring HIV viral load and for early infant diagnosis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- The performance of using dried blood spot specimens for HIV-1 viral load testing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Viral load monitoring for people living with HIV in the era of test and treat: progress made and challenges ahead - a systematic review.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Systematic review of the accuracy of plasma preparation tubes for HIV viral load testing.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy of detection and quantification of HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA using dried blood spot (DBS) samples - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Switch to second-line versus continued first-line antiretroviral therapy for patients with low-level HIV-1 viremia: An open-label randomized controlled trial in Lesotho.PLoS medicine · 2020Trial
- Serum Dried Samples to Detect Dengue Antibodies: A Field Study.BioMed research international · 2017Trial
- Community viral load, antiretroviral therapy coverage, and HIV incidence in India: a cross-sectional, comparative study.The lancet. HIV · 2016Trial
- An Examination of Perceptions and Usage of Dried Blood Spot Biosampling Technology for HIV Viral Load Collection Among Youth with HIV.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Sensitivity and specificity of Dried Blood Spot and Plasma Separation Card samples for Hepatitis C Virus RNA Testing.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Sensitivity and specificity of dried blood spot samples for hepatitis C virus RNA testing.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Brief Report: Undetectable HIV-1 Viral Load Among Virally Suppressed People Living With HIV: Implications for Undetectable Equals Untransmittable (U=U) in Resource-Limited Settings Using Dried Spot Testing.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a multiplex assay system for simultaneous detection of HIV-1, HBV, and human STRs for forensic application on CE system.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Article
- Dried Blood Spots and Plasma Separation Cards can Broaden Access to Molecular Testing for HBV, HCV and HIV.Reviews in medical virology · 2025Review
- Dried Blood Spot Analysis for Simultaneous Quantification of Antiepileptic Drugs Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study evaluating the frequency of HIV drug resistance mutations among individuals diagnosed with HIV-1 in tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based pre-exposure prophylaxis rollout programmes in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Article
- Improved HIV-1 RNA detection using whole blood versus plasma in antiretroviral-treated individuals.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Nucleic acid amplification testing using dried blood spots to confirm the diagnosis of HIV-1 in adults.Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology · 2024Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 8 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDried blood spots (DBS) have been used as alternative specimens to plasma to increase access to HIV viral load (VL) monitoring and early infant diagnosis (EID) in remote settings. We systematically reviewed evidence on the performance of DBS compared to plasma for VL monitoring and EID. METHODS AND
findingsThirteen peer reviewed HIV VL publications and five HIV EID papers were included. Depending on the technology and the viral load distribution in the study population, the percentage of DBS samples that are within 0.5 log of VL in plasma ranged from 52-100%. Because the input sample volume is much smaller in a blood spot, there is a risk of false negatives with DBS. Sensitivity of DBS VL was found to be 78-100% compared to plasma at VL below 1000 copies/ml, but this increased to 100% at a threshold of 5000 copies/ml. Unlike a plasma VL test which measures only cell free HIV RNA, a DBS VL also measures proviral DNA as well as cell-associated RNA, potentially leading to false positive results when using DBS. The systematic review showed that specificity was close to 100% at DBS VL above 5000 copies/ml, and this threshold would be the most reliable for predicting true virologic failure using DBS. For early infant diagnosis, DBS has a sensitivity of 100% compared to fresh whole blood or plasma in all studies.
conclusionsAlthough limited data are available for EID, DBS offer a highly sensitive and specific sampling strategy to make viral load monitoring and early infant diagnosis more accessible in remote settings. A standardized approach for sampling, storing, and processing DBS samples would be essential to allow successful implementation.
trial registrationPROSPERO Registration #: CRD42013003621.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.