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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Comprehensive & Cost Effective Laboratory Monitoring of HIV/AIDS: an African Role Model
Published on: October 31, 2010
HIV testing in Lanarkshire
R R Acquah1, A Baggott, C McGoldrick
1RR Acquah, Brownlee Centre, Gartnavel General Hospital, 1053 Great Western Road, Glasgow G14 0YN, UK. Email r.acquah@nhs.net.
Introduction:
The 2008 UK National Guidelines for HIV testing were designed in order to decrease the proportion of people living with undiagnosed HIV infection.
Aims:
Two audits were conducted. The aim of Audit 1 was to determine the proportion of current medical inpatients with an indicator condition that had been tested for HIV. Audit 2 aimed to identify missed opportunities for testing prior to diagnosis among newly diagnosed individuals with HIV.
Methods:
Audit 1 involved a case note review looking for indicator conditions and HIV testing of all inpatients. Audit 2 analysed the hospital case notes of all new Lanarkshire HIV patients in 2010 for previous missed diagnostic opportunities.
Results:
In Audit 1, 36% (63/174) of medical inpatients had a current indicator condition. Of the total population, 1.7% (3/174) had what would be an AIDS-defining condition if they had a positive HIV test. However, only 11% (7/63) of individuals were appropriately HIV tested. For Audit 2, 64% (9/14) of newly diagnosed individuals had previous missed opportunities for diagnosis.
Conclusion:
Increased education of clinical staff around testing guidelines is needed, as we have demonstrated that the 2008 guidelines are not being adhered to.
