Clinical risk assessment strategies for AIDS

The CDC estimates that 1 to 1.5 million people in the United States are currently infected with the AIDS virus. With the increase in numbers of AIDS cases and infection rate, it is vital that health-care practitioners accurately assess a patient's risk status for AIDS. Two hundred clients from a free-standing birth center in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area completed a questionnaire on AIDS. The respondents represented a homogeneous group of white, middle to upper-middle class, well-educated women. Five items on the questionnaire involved a self-assessment of the subject's risk status for AIDS. The results indicated that the question content strongly influenced the subjects' perception of their risk level for AIDS. Furthermore, a major discrepancy was found between the subject's perceived risk status (2.5% at risk to 29% at risk, depending on the question) and the fact that all respondents thought it unlikely that they currently had the AIDS virus or would contract it in the future. Such a discrepancy may reflect possible denial and indicate a need for educational efforts in this area. It was concluded that all known and probable risk factors for AIDS must be presented to the clients so that an accurate assessment of risk can be made. It is through such an assessment that clients can learn about risk behaviors that may need to be altered to avoid infection.