Complementary therapies for anxiety management in people with HIV: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of complementary therapies in reducing anxiety in people living with HIV. Methods: Systematic review of articles available in MEDLINE®, Scopus, Cinahl and Web of Science databases. The search was performed using the English descriptors “Complementary Therapies”, “Anxiety” and “HIV” as the main concepts. Primary studies such as randomized controlled trials conducted with people living with HIV were included. The methodological quality was assessed using Cochrane’s RoB 2 tool. Results were displayed as means and standard deviation or confidence intervals and as p-values for the analysis of intra- and inter-group differences. Results: A total of 14 articles were selected. The study population consisted mostly of men, adults and North Americans. Among the ten therapies evaluated, five significantly reduced anxiety in people with HIV, namely: massage; therapeutic touch; yoga; auricular acupuncture concomitant with spiritual therapy; and the program composed of muscle relaxation, relaxation training assisted by electromyographic biofeedback, meditation and hypnosis. Among the studies, 78.6% had a risk of bias between moderate and high. Conclusion: Complementary therapies proved to be effective for the management of HIV comorbidity and anxiety, with emphasis on therapeutic touch, massage and yoga. There is a lack of research with greater methodological rigor that investigates the adverse effects of therapies.