Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26090989›Full record

ArticlePloS one2015

A Comparison of Methods for Analyzing Viral Load Data in Studies of HIV Patients.

Charles E Rose, Lytt Gardner, Jason Craw, Sonali Girde, Andrew J Wawrzyniak, Mari-Lynn Drainoni, Jessica Davila, Jack DeHovitz, Jeanne C Keruly, Andrew O Westfall and 1 more

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Charles E RoseDivision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Lytt GardnerDivision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Jason CrawDivision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Sonali GirdeICF Macro International, Inc., Atlanta, GA, United States of America.
Andrew J WawrzyniakPsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States of America.
Mari-Lynn DrainoniDepartment of Health Policy & Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America; Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America; Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, ENRM VA Hospital, Bedford, MA, United States of America.
Jessica DavilaDepartment of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America.
Jack DeHovitzSTAR Clinic, Department of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States of America.
Jeanne C KerulyDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Andrew O WestfallDepartment of Biostatistics, University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Gary MarksDivision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.

Funding

University of Miami Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR)P30AI073961 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI ALLAN E RODRIGUEZ · 2007 to 2026
$33.8M
NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI073961
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

HIV RNA viral load (VL) is a pivotal outcome variable in studies of HIV infected persons. We propose and investigate two frameworks for analyzing VL: (1) a single-measure VL (SMVL) per participant and (2) repeated measures of VL (RMVL) per participant. We compared these frameworks using a cohort of 720 HIV patients in care (4,679 post-enrollment VL measurements). The SMVL framework analyzes a single VL per participant, generally captured within a "window" of time. We analyzed three SMVL methods where the VL binary outcome is defined as suppressed or not suppressed. The omit-participant method uses a 8-month "window" (-6/+2 months) around month 24 to select the participant's VL closest to month 24 and removes participants from the analysis without a VL in the "window". The set-to-failure method expands on the omit-participant method by including participants without a VL within the "window" and analyzes them as not suppressed. The closest-VL method analyzes each participant's VL measurement closest to month 24. We investigated two RMVL methods: (1) repeat-binary classifies each VL measurement as suppressed or not suppressed and estimates the proportion of participants suppressed at month 24, and (2) repeat-continuous analyzes VL as a continuous variable to estimate the change in VL across time, and geometric mean (GM) VL and proportion of participants virally suppressed at month 24. Results indicated the RMVL methods have more precision than the SMVL methods, as evidenced by narrower confidence intervals for estimates of proportion suppressed and risk ratios (RR) comparing demographic strata. The repeat-continuous method had the most precision and provides more information than other considered methods. We generally recommend using the RMVL framework when there are repeated VL measurements per participant because it utilizes all available VL data, provides additional information, has more statistical power, and avoids the subjectivity of defining a "window."

Indexed as

Viral LoadAdolescentAdultAnti-HIV AgentsFemaleHIV InfectionsHumansMaleRNA, ViralYoung AdultAnti-HIV AgentsRNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID26090989
PMCPMC4474923

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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.