HIV testing in women: missed opportunities

To investigate opportunities for early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing of women.

A retrospective cohort study design linked case reports from HIV surveillance to several statewide health-care databases. Medical encounters occurring before the first positive HIV test (missed opportunities) were categorized by diagnosis/procedure codes to distinguish visits that were likely to have prompted an HIV test. Women were categorized as late testers (AIDS diagnosis <12 months from first HIV test date), non-late testers (no AIDS diagnosis during study period or diagnosis of AIDS >12 months of HIV diagnosis), of reproductive age (13-44 years old), and not of reproductive age (>44 years old). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate risk and its statistical significance.

Of 3303 HIV-infected women diagnosed during the study period, 2408 (73%) had missed opportunity visits. Late testers (39%) were more likely to be black than white (aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.12-1.95), be older (>44 years old; aOR 7.85, 95% CI 4.49-13.7), and have >10 missed opportunity visits (aOR 2.17, 95% CI 1.62-2.91). Fifty-four percent of women >44 years old were also late testers. Women >44 years old had lower median initial CD4 counts (p<0.001). The top two procedures were the same for all groups of women but mammography was ranked fourth for women >44 years old and Papanicolau smear was ranked fourth for late testers.

Feasibility and acceptability of routine HIV testing in nontraditional health-care settings, such as mammography and Papanicolau screenings, should be explored to identify late testers and older (not of reproductive age) HIV-infected women.