Measurement and evaluation of community engagement in complex, chronic medical conditions: HIV and obesity as exemplar conditions

Abstract

Objective To systematically review, describe, and compare quantitative measures of community engagement in obesity and HIV prevention research. Materials & Methods A systematic review adhering to PRISMA and PROSPERO guidelines was conducted, searching seven databases. Screening and quality assessment were carried out by four reviewers independently. Studies were included if they explicitly used community engagement for obesity or HIV prevention and quantitatively measured community engagement. Extracted data included descriptions of community engagement, measurement constructs, and statistical results. Results Of 8922 studies screened by title and abstract and 1326 studies screened by full text, 13 studies were included from obesity prevention and 42 studies from HIV prevention. The studies used a range of terms for community engagement, highlighting differing approaches and challenges in measurement. Quantitative measures of community engagement varied across the studies. When change over time in community engagement was analyzed, an increase in engagement was generally found, and when an association between engagement and health was tested, a positive association was generally found. Conclusion Despite diverse measurement approaches, drawing parallels between obesity and HIV prevention offers new pathways to strengthen community engagement evaluations through the iteration of existing measures across the two fields.