title: Actual Versus Perceived HIV Testing Norms, and Personal HIV Testing Uptake: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study in Rural Uganda.
abstract: HIV testing is an essential part of treatment and prevention. Using population-based data from 1664 adults across eight villages in rural Uganda, we assessed individuals' perception of the norm for HIV testing uptake in their village and compared it to the actual uptake norm. In addition, we examined how perception of the norm was associated with personal testing while adjusting for other factors. Although the majority of people had been tested for HIV across all villages, slightly more than half of men and women erroneously thought that the majority in their village had never been tested. They underestimated the prevalence of HIV testing uptake by 42 percentage points (s.d. = 17 percentage points), on average. Among men, perceiving that HIV testing was not normative was associated with never testing for HIV (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.7-4.0, p < 0.001). Results suggest an opportunity for interventions to emphasize the commonness of HIV testing uptake.
authors.affiliation: Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. jessica.perkins@post.harvard.edu.|Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MA, USA. jessica.perkins@post.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
authors.forename: Viola N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Nyakato
authors.affiliation: Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kakuhikire
authors.affiliation: Uganda National Council for Science & Technology, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Pamela K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Mbabazi
authors.affiliation: Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA.
authors.forename: H Wesley
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
authors.forename: Alexander C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Christakis
authors.affiliation: Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.|Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Bangsberg
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population; D066262:Social Norms; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV testing; Perception; Social norms; Stigma; Uganda