Publicly funded HIV counseling and testing in the United States, 1992-1995

Data are collected and reported through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Counseling and Testing System (CTS) on episodes of publicly funded counseling and HIV testing in the Unites States. The objective of this analysis is to describe testing data reported from 1992 through 1995. In 1992, 2,689,056 tests were performed, and 55,024 (2.0%) were positive; in 1995, 2,491,434 tests were performed, of which 40,605 (1.6%) were positive. Among tests reported with client-level data, the proportion of tests of men and women at higher risk for HIV infection remained stable or declined; the proportion of tests of persons who had been previously tested increased each year; and in 1995, the proportion of tests that included posttest counseling was 86% for anonymous and 70% for confidential tests. Although information collected through CTS could be improved by changing the system so that individuals could be distinguished from testing episodes, the CTS does provide important monitoring information to local and state health departments.