Evaluation of youth preferences for rapid and innovative human immunodeficiency virus antibody tests.
OBJECTIVE
To determine youth preferences for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved and investigational human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody collection and testing methods before and after subjects learned of test result response times; to determine how influential test result response times are on participants' preferences.


METHODS
After health educators explained and demonstrated 6 different HIV antibody collection and testing strategies (3 saliva, 1 urine, and 2 fingerstick methods), participants completed a confidential survey about test method preference and tried the different testing methods. The participants had an opportunity to re-rank their test method preference after learning about each test's result response time.


METHODS
Health education sessions in both clinical and community settings.


METHODS
Youths aged 12 to 24 years.


RESULTS
An oral collection device with a rapid saliva test was the most highly preferred test method. The preference for this method and the rapid response test methods via fingerstick procedures improved significantly after subjects learned of the rapid result response time, while the other methods were given significantly lower preference rankings after subjects learned of the longer result response times. Shifts in preference rankings were not related to sex, age, ethnic group, experience with HIV testing, or practice of risk behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
Our research supports the use of noninvasive and rapid HIV testing methods with rapid response times for adolescents to assist in the early identification of HIV status, while offering HIV prevention opportunities and immediate linkage to care.
Peralta
L
L
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, 655 W Lombard St, Suite 311, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. lperalta@peds.umaryland.edu
Constantine
N
N
Griffin Deeds
B
B
Martin
L
L
Ghalib
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology; D014556:Urine / Q000821:virology
D015483:HIV Antibodies