Home testing past, present and future: lessons learned and implications for HIV home tests

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Diagnostic Technologies

Background:

• The United States recently approved the first rapid home test for diagnosing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
• This approval necessitates an understanding of the potential use and impact of such self-administered diagnostic tools.
• Previous research on unassisted home testing provides insights into user capabilities and test performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing literature on the unassisted use of home tests, including self-collection and testing by untrained individuals.
• To anticipate the expected performance and user experience with the newly available HIV home test.
• To identify areas for improvement and future research regarding HIV home testing.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review was conducted on studies involving self-collection and testing of biological samples by untrained users.
• Existing HIV self-testing studies were specifically included to assess performance and user comprehension.
• Data on test accuracy, ease of use, result interpretation, and user feedback were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Most participants successfully performed home tests, obtained accurate results, and interpreted them correctly, showing high correlation with laboratory tests.
• Users encountered difficulties primarily with blood-based testing procedures.
• Participants generally understood the importance of confirming positive test results.

Conclusions:

• HIV home tests can be effectively used by untrained individuals, yielding reliable results.
• Educational materials for HIV home tests should highlight acute infection symptoms and the necessity of confirmatory testing.
• Further research is recommended on various home-testing strategies, counseling, and impact evaluation.