Prenatal HIV screening in a tertiary care centre.
OBJECTIVE
Strategies are available to reduce maternal-fetal transmission of HIV and depend on adequate prenatal screening. At present, a significant proportion of Canadian pregnant women remain unscreened. We reviewed our screening practices before and after the implementation of a departmental policy on universal counselling for HIV screening and the distribution of a patient educational brochure developed at our centre (interventions).


METHODS
Charts of all new antenatal patients seen during February-April in 1996 (n = 186) and 1998 (n = 212) were reviewed. Maternal demographics and evidence of HIV counselling and screening were collected and analyzed.


RESULTS
Following our interventions, HIV counselling and screening rates increased from 13% to 72%. Patient acceptance of testing was high. The majority of missed opportunities for HIV testing were patients transferred urgently from other institutions.


CONCLUSIONS
HIV counselling and screening can be improved by implementation of local strategies. We have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach in a tertiary care unit.
Gruslin
A
A
Division Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dept. Obstetrics/Gynecology and Newborn Care, Rm. 8420, Ottawa Hospital-General Campus, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6. agruslin@ottawahospital.on.ca
Salvador
A
A
Dekker
M
M
Menard-de Varennes
D
D
Eason
E
E
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000635:transmission; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008403:Mass Screening; D009864:Ontario; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015980:Public Health Practice