[Use of HIV rapid tests in free and anonymous screening consultations in the French West Indies].
OBJECTIVE
Late screening for HIV is frequent in people living in the French West Indies. Rapid tests (RT) create new opportunities to improve screening for HIV. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of RT among users of free and anonymous screening consultations in Fort-de-France and Saint-Martin.


METHODS
After confirming its reliability on more than 20,000 samples, a RT (Determine HIV-1+2 was offered on site to all testers in addition to the classic tests.


RESULTS
From October 2007 to May 2008, 373 RT were performed, four were confirmed positive. Results of RT were returned to 99.4% of testers versus 89.4% of persons who underwent additional classic tests. The rate for unclaimed classic tests results was higher for the latter than for persons who had only RT: 22.2% versus 10.6%.


CONCLUSIONS
Results show that RT improves the proportion of people who are informed of their results. Nevertheless, efforts must be made to persuade patients to come back for results of the standard tests to be informed of a potential sexually transmitted infection or an acute HIV infection.
Cabié
A
A
Service des maladies infectieuses et tropicales, centre hospitalier universitaire, BP 362, 97261 Fort-de-France cedex, France.
Bissuel
F
F
Abel
S
S
Huc
P
P
Paturel
L
L
Pierre-François
S
S
D035041:Anonymous Testing / Q000379:methods*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008395:Martinique; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D013997:Time Factors