title: Feasibility and acceptability of routine human immunodeficiency virus testing in general practice: your views.
abstract: Early diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to a decreased morbidity and mortality. General practice offers an important window for earlier diagnosis. The British HIV Association produced guidelines in 2008 advocating an increase in HIV testing, with specific references to primary care. This study explores the awareness of, and opinions towards, these guidelines within general practice. An email questionnaire was sent to 191 general practitioners nationwide, in both areas of high and low HIV prevalence. A total of 80 doctors replied, giving a response rate of 42%. In all, 44% of the respondents were unaware of the guidelines and 89% felt comfortable discussing and carrying out an HIV test themselves; of the 11% that did not, all but one were from low prevalence areas (P = 0.037). Respondents felt that main barrier to HIV testing was patient acceptability. Having read the guidelines, 70% believed it would be feasible to follow them in practice. Those who disagreed felt that time implications were the most important reason not to adopt the guidelines. Almost half the respondents were not aware of the guidelines; having read them, the majority felt that implementation is feasible. This demonstrates the necessity for better dissemination of these guidelines. This study found that the main barrier to performing an HIV test was felt to be patient acceptance, a contradiction to findings from recent pilot studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK. sumeet.hindocha06@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sumeet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hindocha
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rayment
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Theobald
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D058006:General Practice / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult