Background: Anemia is a common clinical disease in persons with HIV infection and is associated with poor prognosis. There is a need to assess the effects of anemia treatments, and to determine whether these interventions are beneficial.
Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of treatments for anemia in people with HIV infection and AIDS.
Search strategy: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2005), MEDLINE (1980-July 2005), EMBASE (1980-July 2005), LlLACS (1982 to July 2005), reference lists of relevant articles and contact with authors. See Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group search strategy.
Selection criteria: Randomized trials assessing the effects of treatments for anemia in people diagnosed with HIV infection. There were no age restrictions.
Data collection and analysis: Both authors independently assessed relevant studies for inclusion. Data extraction and quality assessment of relevant studies was performed by one author and checked by the other author.
Main results: We included four trials, but focused on the results based on three trials with acceptable attrition rate. None of the trials reported data on death. The two trials that compared recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) to placebo did not show any benefit on hematological values response, number of patients transfused, or number of packed red cell transfused. One trial compared the effects of two rHuEPO dosing regimens on hemoglobin value and quality of life, but the effects are unclear.
Authors' conclusions: There is a lack of reliable evidence on interventions for treating anemia in patients with HIV infection. This Cochrane review has found some evidence that rHuEPO reduces transfusion requirements, increases hemoglobin levels, and improves quality of life in HIV-infected patients with anemia. However, this is based on evidence from randomized trials with weak or poor methodological quality. There is a need for randomized trials of high methodological quality to evaluate the effect of interventions on anemia in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus.