Self-reported HIV testing practice among physicians treating tuberculosis in Australia and New Zealand

Not all people with tuberculosis have their HIV status ascertained despite the interaction between these infections. We investigated the self-reported HIV testing practice among physicians treating tuberculosis in Australia and New Zealand and used logistic regression to assess factors associated with a routine offer of HIV testing in cases of tuberculosis. Of 290 subjects, 61% always recommended an HIV test for a 38-year-old married man with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. A lower proportion (40%) always tested a 78-year-old man or a female patient (58%), and more always HIV tested a South African case (85%), a patient with oral candidiasis (87%) or an unmarried male patient (66%). No scenario was associated with a universal offer of HIV testing. Clinician factors such as specialty (odds ratio [OR] 3.09), jurisdiction of practice (OR 4.09) and number of HIV tests requested in the past five years (OR 0.29) predicted the self-reported frequency of always HIV testing tuberculosis patients. At least 48% of respondents reported that epidemiological or clinical factors influenced their decision to offer testing. Strategies to increase HIV testing in cases of tuberculosis need to consider clinician factors.