title: Provision of HIV test results by telephone is both safe and efficient for men who have sex with men.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of delivering HIV test results by telephone on HIV testing and subsequent risk behaviour of men, as well as saving on clinic consultation time. It was conducted at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, the main public sexual health clinic servicing Victoria, Australia. In 2013, a policy change was introduced so men could obtain their HIV test result via telephone. We compared the proportion of men testing for HIV and receiving results in the 24 months before (2011-2012) and the 24 months after (2013-2014) the policy change. There was a modest increase in the proportion of men having a HIV test of 3.2% ( p < 0.001) after the policy change. The provision of HIV results by telephone more than halved the number of men re-attending (74.4% vs. 33.1%) which freed up 516 hours of clinic time and had no adverse outcome on subsequent risk behaviour, nor changed the proportion of men who obtained their HIV results ( p = 0.058), or the period of time between testing and obtaining results for HIV-negative ( p = 0.007) and HIV-positive results ( p = 0.198). Telephone notification of HIV test results is a useful option given the potential beneficial effects shown.
authors.affiliation: 1 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|2 Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bissessor
authors.affiliation: 1 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|3 Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Catriona S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.affiliation: 1 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|3 Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.affiliation: 1 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|3 Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Marcus Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|3 Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Eric Pf
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001315:Australia; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012747:Sexual Partners; D013689:Telephone; D014342:Truth Disclosure
keywords: HIV; Testing rates; risk profile