title: A Finger-Stick Whole-Blood HIV Self-Test as an HIV Screening Tool Adapted to the General Public.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2013, the French Health Authority approved the use of HIV self-tests in pharmacies for the general public. This screening tool will allow an increase in the number of screenings and a reduction in the delay between infection and diagnosis, thus reducing the risk of further infections. We previously compared 5 HIV-self test candidates (4 oral fluid and one whole blood) and demonstrated that the whole blood HIV test exhibited the optimal level of performance (sensitivity/specificity). We studied the practicability of an easy-to-use finger-stick whole blood HIV self-test "autotest VIH®", when used in the general public.
  
  
  METHODS
  This multicenter cross-sectional study involved 411 participants from the Parisian region (AIDES and HF association) between April and July 2014 and was divided into 2 separate studies: one evaluating the capability of participants to obtain an interpretable result using only the information notice, and a second evaluating the interpretation of test results, using a provided chart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 411 consenting participants, 264 in the first study and 147 in the second, were included. All participants were over 18 years of age. In the first study, 99.2% of the 264 participants correctly administered the auto-test, and 21.2% needed, upon their request, telephone assistance. Ninety-two percent of participants responded that the test was easy/very easy to perform, and 93.5% did not find any difficulty obtaining a sufficient good quantity of blood. In the second study, 98.1% of the 147 participants correctly interpreted the results. The reading/interpretation errors concerned the negative (2.1%) or the indeterminate (3.3%) auto-tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The success rate of handling and interpretation of this self-test is very satisfactory, demonstrating its potential for use by the general public and its utility to increase the number of opportunities to detect HIV patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Centre Hospitalier Régional, Orléans, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Prazuck
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Centre Hospitalier Régional, Orléans, France.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karon
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Centre Hospitalier Régional, Orléans, France.
authors.forename: Camelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gubavu
authors.affiliation: HF Prevention, Trappes, France.
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andre
authors.affiliation: Aides, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Legall
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hôpital Universitaire Bichat Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bouvet
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biologie du Chemin Vert (CBCV), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kreplak
authors.affiliation: INSERM INED, U822, Hôpital Kremlin Bicêtre, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Jean Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Teglas
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hôpital Tenon, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pialoux
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity