OBJECTIVES : To create an evidence map of the published literature regarding pneumocystis pneumonia to determine the common features of the studies and the methodologies used.

METHODS : The heoro.com database indexes papers on economic and humanistic burden. We searched the database for studies on “Pneumonia, Pneumocystis”. The abstracts were exported, and key features were identified in order to build a picture of the evidence available.

RESULTS : We found a total of 66 abstracts on pneumocystis pneumonia, of which 50 reported on patient populations with HIV and/or AIDS, and 16 were in patients with other types of immunodeficiency. The publication dates ranged from 1987 to 2017, with 60% of the studies published between 1990 and 2000. The majority of the studies were conducted in the USA (38), and Europe (17), of which only 1 was conducted in the UK. The remaining studies were conducted in Africa (6), Canada (2), Japan (1) and India (1). More than half of the studies reported mortality (39), and many were reports of economic models or reported cost and resource data (34), however we found no PRO studies. Eighteen studies evaluated or reviewed diagnostic tools (18). Most (43) studies were observational, 8 were clinical laboratory studies, 7 were RCTs, and 7 were reviews. Many intervention studies assessed treatments to prevent infection, including cotrimoxazole, atovaquone, and zidovudine.

CONCLUSIONS : Only a small number of studies have reported on patient populations with pneumocystis pneumonia, and of these there are very few clinical trials or studies measuring quality of life. The main focus of the literature has so far been on retrospective reviews of mortality and cost and resource use, with a secondary focus on diagnostic tools and procedures.