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Published on: October 31, 2010
Characterizing Network-Based HIV Testing Interventions to Guide HIV Testing and Contact Tracing at STI Clinics in
Courtney N Maierhofer1, Kimberly A Powers1, Mitch M Matoga2
1Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Background:
Understanding heterogeneity across patients in effectiveness of network-based HIV testing interventions may optimize testing and contact tracing strategies, expediting linkage to therapy or prevention for contacts of persons with HIV (PWH).
Setting:
We analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial of a combination intervention comprising acute HIV testing, contract partner notification (cPN), and social contact referral conducted among PWH at 2 STI clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi, between 2015 and 2019.
Methods:
We used binomial regression to estimate the effect of the combination intervention vs. passive PN (pPN) on having any (1) contact, (2) newly HIV-diagnosed contact, and (3) HIV-negative contact present to the clinic, overall and by referring participant characteristics. We repeated analyses comparing cPN alone with pPN.
Results:
The combination intervention effect on having any presenting contact was greater among referring women than men [prevalence difference (PD): 0.17 vs. 0.10] and among previously vs. newly HIV-diagnosed referring persons (PD: 0.20 vs. 0.11). Differences by sex and HIV diagnosis status were similar in cPN vs. pPN analyses. There were no notable differences in the intervention effect on newly HIV-diagnosed referrals by referring participant characteristics. Intervention impact on having HIV-negative presenting contacts was greater among younger vs. older referring persons and among those with >1 vs. ≤1 recent sex partner. Effect differences by age were similar for cPN vs. pPN.
Conclusion:
Our intervention package may be particularly efficacious in eliciting referrals from women and previously diagnosed persons. When the combination intervention is infeasible, cPN alone may be beneficial for these populations.
