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What drives 'first-time testers' to test for HIV at community-based HIV testing services?
S-A Meehan1, H R Draper1, R Burger2
1Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Abstract:
Drivers of and barriers to testing are not well understood for those who have never been tested previously and now self-initiate at a community-based human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) testing service (CB-HTS). This descriptive study enrolled 229 first-time testers. Participants completed an electronic questionnaire. The majority reported fear and (non) accessibility of HTS as barriers to testing (40% and 24%, respectively). Wanting 'to know my status' and the immediate opportunity to test were reported as drivers of testing (41% and 35%, respectively). Addressing fear of testing and providing an easily accessible opportunity to test may go some way to encouraging those previously untested individuals to test.
