Apples and oranges? Interpreting success in HIV prevention trials.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In the last decade, several large-scale, clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of novel HIV prevention products have been completed, and eight are currently underway or about to be reported. Little attention has been given in the literature to the level of protection sufficient to warrant introduction, and there is concern that using the term "efficacy" to describe the effect of user-controlled methods such as microbicides may mislead policymakers.

Design

We review how the fields of family planning, vaccine science and mathematical modelling understand and use the terms efficacy and effectiveness, and explore with simple mathematical models how trial results of user-controlled products relate to common understandings of these terms.

Results

Each field bri

SUBMITTER: Heise LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3775591 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature