title: A comparison of patient and staff attitudes about emergency department-based HIV testing in 2 urban hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compares and contrasts emergency department (ED) patient and staff attitudes towards ED-based HIV testing in 2 major hospitals in a single city, with an attempt to answer the following: Should routine ED-based HIV testing be offered? If so, who should be responsible for disclosing HIV test results? And what barriers might prevent ED-based HIV testing?
  
  
  METHODS
  Paper-based surveys were presented to a convenience sample of ED patients and staff at 2 urban, academic, tertiary care hospitals between December 2007 and June 2009. Descriptive statistics were derived with SAS and MicroSoft Excel. Data are reported in percentages, fractions, and graphs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 457 patients and 85 staff completed the surveys. The majority of patients favor ED-based HIV testing. Only a minority of ED staff support ED-based HIV testing. In both hospitals, patients prefer to have HIV test results delivered by a physician. This was true for both positive and negative results. However, only about one third of attending physicians feel comfortable disclosing a positive HIV test result. Patients and staff both view privacy and confidentiality as significant barriers to ED-based HIV testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although ED patients are overwhelmingly in favor of ED-based HIV testing, the staff is not. Patients and staff agree that physicians should deliver HIV test results to patients, but a significant number of physicians are not comfortable doing so. Historical barriers continue to hinder ED-based HIV testing programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44109-1998, USA.
authors.forename: Carrie R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radonich
authors.forename: Oksana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kozlovskaya
authors.forename: Vicken Y
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Totten
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003219:Confidentiality; D003625:Data Collection; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D057240:Patient Preference; D055815:Young Adult