Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
The CDC’s Prevention Research Synthesis (PRS) Project was established in 1996 to synthesize the published scientific research literature to help inform policy decisions, guidelines, programmatic efforts, and future research in HIV prevention.
The PRS Project uses research synthesis methods to conduct qualitative and quantitative reviews to provide evidence for HIV Prevention efforts. More specifically PRS is used to:
- identify evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and best practices;
- explore gaps in the HIV prevention research literature; and
- provide expert consultation on systematic review methods and evidence-based HIV prevention interventions, recommendations, and guidelines.
- The mission of PRS Project is to advance HIV prevention through research synthesis and the identification of interventions that work.
- PRS supports CDC’s priorities for HIV prevention and care.
- Goal 1: Prevent New HIV Infections
- Goal 2: Improve Health Outcomes for Persons Living with HIV
- Goal 3: Reduce HIV-related Disparities and Health Inequities
Areas of Focus include:
- Prevention programs, focuses on identifying and sharing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and best practices with CDC funding recipients, particularly health departments and community-based organizations (CBOs) and others.
- Social, structural, and behavioral interventions and epidemiologic studies, focuses on qualitative or quantitative systematic reviews.
- Research synthesis methods, focuses on literature search methodology, summarizing and synthesizing of data in primary research studies and in analytical or statistical methods.
- Prevention policy, focuses on contributing to public health guidelines and national strategies.
- The PRS Project’s cumulative database supports synthesis of HIV intervention research. The database is updated each year from electronic and manual searches of the literature for HIV interventions.
- The database contains more than 100,000 coded citations published since January 1988.
- The PRS Project serves as a source of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and best practices related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment. Please see each chapter page of the PRS Compendium for a list of interventions. There is a search function on each chapter to search for specific types of interventions. Health departments and community-based organizations can find interventions specific to the needs in their communities.The Compendium Search can be accessed here.The Compendium comprises five chapters. A complete listing of each chapter can be accessed below.
- The Risk Reduction (RR) Chapter of the Compendium highlights behavioral EBIs focusing on HIV-related risk reduction.
- The Medication Adherence (MA) Chapter of the Compendium highlights EBIs that promote HIV medication adherence among persons living with HIV.
- The Linkage to, Retention in, and Re-engagement in HIV Care (LRC) Chapter of the Compendium highlights best practices (EBIs and Evidence-Informed Interventions) that promote linkage to, retention and re-engagement in HIV care (LRC) among persons living with HIV.
- The Structural Interventions (SI) Chapter of the Compendium highlights best practices (EBIs and Evidence-Informed Interventions) that promote structural approaches used to enhance the effectiveness of biomedical and behavioral HIV interventions.
- The Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Chapter of the Compendium highlights best practices (EBIs and Evidence-Informed Interventions) that improve PrEP use and persistence.
Additional Resources
Last Reviewed: February 16, 2022