State Trends in HIV Testing Among US Adults Aged 18-64 Years, 2011-2017

HIV testing identifies persons living with HIV and can lead to treatment, decreased risk behaviors, and reduced transmission. The objective of our study was to describe state-level trends in HIV testing in the general US adult population aged 18-64 years, for both ever tested for HIV and tested for HIV in the previous 12 months.

Using 2011-2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, we estimated the percentage of the state population, plus the District of Columbia, aged 18-64 years ever tested for HIV and tested for HIV in the previous 12 months. The 50 states and the District of Columbia were grouped according to the estimated prevalence of HIV in 2011. We used orthogonal contrasts to calculate P values for linear trends.

The percentage of the population ever tested for HIV increased significantly in 23 states during 2011-2017, whereas the percentage tested for HIV in the previous 12 months increased significantly in 8 states. In 2017, the mean percentage ever tested for HIV in states with a high prevalence of HIV was 8.6 percentage points higher than the mean percentage in states with a low prevalence of HIV (48.5% vs 39.9%); the mean increase in the percentage ever tested was highest (11.4%) in states with a low prevalence of HIV.

Enhanced efforts by states to make HIV testing simple, accessible, and routine are needed to reduce the number of persons who are not aware of their infection.