Table 1

Proposed search strategy for electronic databases

ID	Search terms
PubMed
#1	(task[tiab] OR task-shifting[tiab] OR referr[tiab] OR referral and consultation[mh] OR role[tiab]) AND (health personnel[mh] OR doctor[tiab] OR doctors[tiab] OR clinician[tiab] OR clinicians[tiab] OR physician[tiab] OR physicians[tiab] OR “healthcare provider"[tiab] OR “healthcare providers"[tiab] OR “health care provider"[tiab] OR “health care providers"[tiab] OR pharmac[tiab] OR apothecar[tiab] OR chemist[tiab] OR dispensar*[tiab])
#2	randomized controlled trial[pt] OR controlled clinical trial[pt] OR randomized controlled trials[MeSH] OR random allocation[MeSH] OR double-blind method[MeSH] OR single-blind method[MeSH] OR clinical trial[pt] OR clinical trials[MeSH] OR (“clinical trial"[tw]) OR ((singl[tw] OR doubl[tw] OR trebl[tw] OR tripl[tw]) AND (mask[tw] OR blind[tw])) OR random[tw] OR research design[mh:noexp] OR prospective studies[MeSH] OR control[tw] OR volunteer[tw]) OR observational[tw] OR non-random[tw] OR nonrandom[tw] OR before after study[tw] OR time series[tw] OR cohort[tw] OR cross-section[tw] OR prospective[tw] OR retrospective[tw] OR research design[mh:noexp] OR follow-up studies[MeSH] OR longitud[tw] OR evaluat*[tiab] OR pre-post[tw] OR (pre-test[tw] AND post-test[tw]) NOT (animals[MeSH] NOT human[MeSH])
#3	(HIV Infections[MeSH] OR HIV[MeSH] OR hiv[tiab] OR hiv-1[tiab] OR hiv-2[tiab] OR hiv1[tiab] OR hiv2[tiab] OR hiv infect[tiab] OR human immunodeficiency virus[tiab]OR human immune deficiency virus[tiab] OR human immuno-deficiency virus[tiab] OR human immune-deficiency virus[tiab] OR ((human immun) AND(deficiency virus[tiab])) OR acquired immunodeficiency syndromes[tiab] OR acquired immune deficiency syndrome[tiab] OR acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome[ tiab] OR acquired immune-deficiency syndrome[ tiab] OR ((acquired immun) AND (deficiency syndrome[tiab])) or “sexually transmitted diseases, viral”[mh]) OR HIV[tiab] OR HIV/AIDS[tiab] OR HIV-infected[tiab] OR HIV[title] OR HIV/AIDS[title] OR HIV-infected[title]
#4	(HAART[tiab] OR ART[tiab] OR cART[tiab] OR antiretroviral[tiab] OR anti-retroviral[tiab] OR anti-viral[tiab] OR antiviral[tiab] OR “Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active"[Mesh])
#5	#1 AND #2 AND #3 AND #4
Scopus
	(HIV OR HIV/AIDS OR AIDS OR “HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY” OR “ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY)” AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (TASK-SHIFTING OR TASKSHIFTING OR (TASK* AND SHIFT) OR TASK OR (REFERR* AND (NURSE* OR PHARMAC))) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (ANTIRETROVIRAL OR ANTI-RETROVIRAL OR ART OR CART OR HAART) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (RANDOM OR RANDOMIZED OR RANDOMISED OR TRIAL OR COHORT* OR GROUP* OR COMPAR* OR OBSERVATIONAL OR PROSPECTIVE* OR RETROSPECTIVE* OR “SYSTEMATIC REVIEW” OR “META-ANALYSIS)”
Web of Science
	(TS=(HIV OR HIV/AIDS OR AIDS OR “HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY” OR “ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY)” AND TS=(TASK-SHIFTING OR TASKSHIFTING OR (TASK* AND SHIFT) OR TASK OR (REFERR* AND (NURSE* OR PHARMAC))) AND TS=(ANTIRETROVIRAL OR ANTI-RETROVIRAL OR ART OR CART OR HAART) AND TS=(RANDOM OR RANDOMIZED OR RANDOMISED OR TRIAL OR COHORT* OR GROUP* OR COMPAR* OR OBSERVATIONAL OR PROSPECTIVE* OR RETROSPECTIVE* OR “SYSTEMATIC REVIEW” OR “META-ANALYSIS)”) OR (TI=(HIV OR HIV/AIDS OR AIDS OR “HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY” OR “ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY)” AND TI=(TASK-SHIFTING OR TASKSHIFTING OR (TASK* AND SHIFT) OR TASK OR (REFERR* AND (NURSE* OR PHARMAC))) AND TI=(ANTIRETROVIRAL OR ANTI-RETROVIRAL OR ART OR cART OR HAART) AND TI=(RANDOM OR RANDOMIZED OR RANDOMISED OR TRIAL OR COHORT* OR GROUP* OR COMPAR* OR OBSERVATIONAL OR PROSPECTIVE* OR RETROSPECTIVE* OR “SYSTEMATIC REVIEW” OR “META-ANALYSIS)”)
CENTRAL
	HIV* OR HIV-1* OR HIV-2* OR HIV1 OR HIV2 OR HIV INFECT* OR HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS OR HUMAN IMMUNEDEFICIENCY VIRUS OR HUMAN IMMUNE-DEFICIENCY VIRUS OR HUMAN IMMUNO-DEFICIENCY VIRUS OR HUMAN IMMUN* DEFICIENCY VIRUS OR ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME OR ACQUIRED IMMUNEDEFICIENCY SYNDROME OR ACQUIRED IMMUNO-DEFICIENCY SYNDROME OR ACQUIRED IMMUNE-DEFICIENCY SYNDROME OR ACQUIRED IMMUN* DEFICIENCY SYNDROME in Title, Abstract, Keywords and (TASK-SHIFTING OR TASKSHIFTING OR (TASK* AND SHIFT) OR TASK OR (REFERR* AND (NURSE* OR PHARMAC*))) in Title, Abstract, Keywords and ANTIRETROVIRAL OR ANTI-RETROVIRAL OR ART OR cART OR HAART in Title, Abstract, Keywords
WHO Global Health Library
	(TASK-SHIFTING OR TASKSHIFTING OR (TASK* AND SHIFT) OR TASK OR (REFERR* AND (NURSE* OR PHARMAC)) AND (HIV OR human immunodeficiency) AND (antiretroviral OR anti-retroviral))) OR (HIV AND task-shifting) OR (HIV* AND task* AND shift*)