Non-communicable diseases Prevalence by HIV Status in East Africa: A protocol for a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

IntroductionOver the past decade, HIV care and treatment programs have grown exponentially, resulting in improved survival among persons living with HIV. In the same period, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases has been reported to be higher among people living with HIV as compared to their HIV-negative counterparts. In this review, we aim to assess the prevalence of non-communicable diseases stratified by HIV status in East Africa. MethodsWe plan to assess observational studies especially case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies and clinical trials. These studies will be related to non-communicable diseases and done in East Africa. This review will be for studies done in East Africa from 1st Jan 2013 to 31st Dec 2023. The team will search databases such as East African Medical Journal, PubMed, Pan African Medical Journal, Scopus, African Health Sciences Journal, African Index, Medicus, and African Journals Online among others. We will use subheadings such as HIV, NCDs, and East Africa to search for relevant Journals. The I2 will be used to assess the heterogeneity of individual studies. All statistical analyses will be performed in STATA V15, and results will be graphically presented on a forest plot. DiscussionWith the rising burden of non-communicable diseases globally, there is much to learn whether the prevalence differs by HIV status or not.