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Adolescents' agreement to test for HIV when different testing methods are offered
T K Mullins1, P K Braverman, L D Dorn
1Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. tanya.mullins@cchmc.org
International Journal of STD & AIDS
|May 15, 2012
Summary
Offering adolescents a choice of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing methods did not significantly increase testing rates. Factors like male gender and perceived infection risk were associated with agreement to test.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent health
- Infectious disease epidemiology
- Public health interventions
Background:
- Rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing enhances adult testing uptake.
- Limited data exist on whether offering adolescents diverse HIV testing methods improves testing rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine HIV testing rates in adolescents when offered a choice of testing methods.
- To explore factors associated with adolescents' agreement to HIV testing.
Main Methods:
- 200 sexually experienced adolescents (13-22 years) recruited from an urban clinic.
- Participants completed a theory-based survey and chose between venipuncture, rapid fingerstick, or rapid oral fluid HIV testing.
Main Results:
- 49.5% of adolescents agreed to HIV testing.
- Agreement to test was independently associated with male gender, parental education, intention to test, and perceived likelihood of current HIV infection.
Conclusions:
- Offering a choice of HIV testing methods alone may not be sufficient to increase adolescent testing rates.
- Combining strategies like opt-out testing with routine HIV screening may be necessary to improve adolescent HIV testing coverage.
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