title: Uptake of Community-Based Peer Administered HIV Point-of-Care Testing: Findings from the PROUD Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Ottawa is estimated at about 10%. The successful integration of peers into outreach efforts and wider access to HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) create opportunities to explore the role of peers in providing HIV testing. The PROUD study, in partnership with Ottawa Public Health (OPH), sought to develop a model for community-based peer-administered HIV POCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  PROUD draws on community-based participatory research methods to better understand the HIV risk environment of people who use drugs in Ottawa. From March-October 2013, 593 people who reported injecting drugs or smoking crack cocaine were enrolled through street-based recruitment. Trained peer or medical student researchers administered a quantitative survey and offered an HIV POCT (bioLytical INSTI test) to participants who did not self-report as HIV positive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  550 (92.7%) of the 593 participants were offered a POCT, of which 458 (83.3%) consented to testing. Of those participants, 74 (16.2%) had never been tested for HIV. There was no difference in uptake between testing offered by a peer versus a non-peer interviewer (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.67-1.66). Despite testing those at high risk for HIV, only one new reactive test was identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings from PROUD demonstrate high uptake of community-based HIV POCT. Peers were able to successfully provide HIV POCT and reach participants who had not previously been tested for HIV. Community-based and peer testing models provide important insights on ways to scale-up HIV prevention and testing among people who use drugs.
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lazarus
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheetal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Canada.|Drug Users Advocacy League, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leblanc
authors.affiliation: PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lalonde
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Manisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hladio
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Kira
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mandryk
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Petrcich
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|CT Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre, Bruyere Research Institute, Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.|University of Ottawa at the Ottawa Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Tyndall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires