• Erika G Martin, Arzana Myderrizi, Heeun Kim, Patrick Schumacher, Soyun Jeong, Thomas L Gift, Angela B Hutchinson, Kevin P Delaney, and Harrell W Chesson.
• Public Health Accreditation Board, Alexandria, VA; Department of Public Administration and Policy, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, Albany, NY. Electronic address: emartin@phaboard.org.
• Am J Prev Med. 2024 Aug 12.

IntroductionDisease intervention specialists (DIS) are critical for delivering partner services programs that provide partner notification, counseling, referral, and other services for HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other infections. This systematic review of partner services and other DIS-delivered interventions for HIV and STIs was conducted to summarize the effectiveness of these programs and identify evidence gaps.MethodsA systematic literature review was conducted with a narrative synthesis. Articles were located using keyword searches in MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL, and ProQuest through December 2022 and analyzed in 2023-2024. Included studies addressed an intervention of partner services or other DIS-delivered services for HIV or STIs; a United States setting; primary data collection; and an external comparison group or pre-post design.Results1,915 unique records were screened for eligibility, with 30 studies included. Overall, DIS-delivered interventions improved clinical outcomes among index patients and population outcomes. Many studies focused on program process measures rather than population-level epidemiologic outcomes. All but one studies were scored as having low or medium strength of evidence.DiscussionThe evidence could be strengthened by establishing a streamlined set of core metrics, assessing impact using rigorous causal inference methodologies, linking program and clinical data systems, and supplementing impact evaluations with evidence on implementation strategies.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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