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Published on: October 31, 2010
Prenatal HIV screening in a tertiary care centre
A Gruslin1, A Salvador, M Dekker
1Division Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dept. Obstetrics/Gynecology and Newborn Care, Rm. 8420, Ottawa Hospital-General Campus, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6. agruslin@ottawahospital.on.ca
Objective:
Strategies are available to reduce maternal-fetal transmission of HIV and depend on adequate prenatal screening. At present, a significant proportion of Canadian pregnant women remain unscreened. We reviewed our screening practices before and after the implementation of a departmental policy on universal counselling for HIV screening and the distribution of a patient educational brochure developed at our centre (interventions).
Methods:
Charts of all new antenatal patients seen during February-April in 1996 (n = 186) and 1998 (n = 212) were reviewed. Maternal demographics and evidence of HIV counselling and screening were collected and analyzed.
Results:
Following our interventions, HIV counselling and screening rates increased from 13% to 72%. Patient acceptance of testing was high. The majority of missed opportunities for HIV testing were patients transferred urgently from other institutions.
Conclusion:
HIV counselling and screening can be improved by implementation of local strategies. We have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach in a tertiary care unit.
