title: HIV screening during pregnancy. Results of 2 attitude surveys on antenatal HIV screening in Belgium.
abstract: Two postal questionnaires were sent to Belgian gynaecologists in order to have information on their current policy of antenatal HIV screening. Of the 815 contacted, 446 (54.7%) completed the first questionnaire. 91.0% offers HIV testing in pregnancy; 49.1% to all pregnant women and 41.9% only to those with behavioural risks. Only 6.5% never offers HIV testing during pregnancy. The majority of these gynaecologists (79.8%) never had to deal with the problem of HIV-seropositivity in a pregnant woman. A second questionnaire with more detailed questions about HIV testing was sent to the identified respondents of the first survey. 237 of 340 (69.7%) responded. Of those, 48.9% perform HIV testing without informing the patient, whereas 43.4% always inform their patients before HIV testing. The majority performs the test at the first antenatal consultation (73.5%; 14.9% offers the test twice. These findings let us conclude that there is a need for recommendations concerning the policy of antenatal screening and information of patients.
authors.affiliation: Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie, Brussel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denayer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piot
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jonckheer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stroobant
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D037841:Pregnant People; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035141:Voluntary Programs