Analytic Methods to Investigate HIV-Related Digital Communication: A Scoping Review

This scoping review aims to identify and characterize analytic methods used to investigate digital communication related to HIV.

Of the 106 articles detailed in this review published before February 2025, just over half of the articles investigated HIV prevention, and the vast majority used social media data. Articles primarily employed qualitative methods, most often thematic analysis. Articles employing quantitative methods used a range of methods including topic modeling, training classifiers, and sentiment analysis. There were also many articles that employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. A wide range of methods have been employed to analyze HIV-related digital communication. As best practices continue to be established, future research can innovate in the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods, leverage digital communication to better understand lived experience of HIV treatment and HIV-related stigma, and ensure this research is done in accordance with high ethical standards.