Characteristics of research-related HIV testing programmes contribute to detection of more HIV infections.
HIV prevalence estimates from bathhouse testing programmes differ widely, ranging from 3% to 11%. The observed difference may be a consequence of whether the programme was part of a research project or a community-based programme. A research-funded testing programme was offered at a bathhouse between May 2001 and December 2002. A local community-based organization began a testing programme in July 2006 at the same bathhouse; the data for this analysis cover the period July 2006 through December 2007. County-wide HIV prevalence estimates were available across the two time periods (i.e. 2001-2002 and 2006-2007). The research-funded testing programme recruited fewer men but identified more positive individuals (10.7% of those testing in the research programme) than were identified among men who tested in the area clinics (3.8% of those men who have sex with men [MSM] testing throughout the county in the same time period). However, the community-based testing programme identified about the same proportion of positive MSM (2.6%) as county clinics (2.7%) in the same time period. In conclusion, results confirmed that even in the same venue, a community-based HIV testing programme identified a similar proportion of positive MSM as the area clinics; however, the research-funded programme identified appreciably more. Incentives may contribute to the difference.
Woods
W J
WJ
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. william.woods@ucsf.edu
Binson
D
D
Pollack
L M
LM
Aviña
S M
SM
Ballesteros
A
A
Rocha
D
D
Bingham
T A
TA
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors