Background: Tobacco use is common amongst people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA); it causes a range of health problems and accounts for many deaths. There is good evidence about interventions to help people quit tobacco use in the general population, however the effectiveness in PLWHA was not known.

Methods: We reviewed the available evidence from trials to help PLWHA stop using tobacco. This evidence is correct up to June 2015. We conducted analyses of whether people were able to successfully quit tobacco use in the long-term (six months and over) and short-term (measured at less than six months).

Results: We found 14 relevant studies including over 2000 participants. All studies, except one, were conducted in the United States (US). All studies compared a behavioural intervention with medication, to a control group. The behavioural intervention was delivered via a range of methods including face-to-face, telephones, computers, and text messages. Nicotine replacement therapy or varenicline (medications that help tobacco users quit) was also given. Control participants typically received a less intensive, brief behavioural intervention, and the same medication as the intervention group. Six studies of moderate quality evidence investigated long-term abstinence; they did not show clear evidence of benefit of the more intense intervention. Eleven studies of very low quality evidence investigated short-term abstinence. The evidence suggested that a more intense intervention combining behavioural support and medication might help people to quit in the short-term.

Quality of the evidence: The quality of the evidence was judged to be moderate for the long-term abstinence outcome and very low for the short-term abstinence outcome, and so further research is needed to increase our confidence in our findings.