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Preferences for rapid point-of-care HIV testing in Nova Scotia, Canada

Preferences for rapid point-of-care HIV testing in Nova Scotia, Canada
Preferences for rapid point-of-care HIV testing in Nova Scotia, Canada
Rapid point-of-care (POC) testing for HIV has been shown to increase the uptake of testing, rates of clients receiving test results, numbers of individuals aware of their status and timely access to care for those who test positive. In addition, several studies have shown that rapid POC testing for HIV is highly acceptable to clients in a variety of clinical and community-based health care settings. Most acceptability studies conducted in North America, however, have been conducted in large, urban environments where concentrations of HIV testing sites and testing innovations are greatest. Using a survey of client preferences at a sexual health clinic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, we suggest that HIV test seekers living in a region outside of Canada's major urban HIV epicentres find rapid POC testing highly acceptable. We compare the results of the Halifax survey with existing acceptability studies of rapid POC HIV testing in North America and suggest ways in which it might be of particular benefit to testing clients and potential clients in Nova Scotia and other regions of Canada that currently have few opportunities for anonymous or rapid testing. Overall, we found that rapid POC HIV testing was highly desirable at this study site and may serve to overcome many of the challenges associated with HIV prevention and testing outside of well-resourced metropolitan environments.
1448-5028
124-132
Lewis, Nathaniel M.
f0218afb-51ea-4141-a1e9-d031d8b98645
Gahagan, Jacqueline C.
025de491-1042-48b7-b59c-37a81d090dd2
Stein, Carlye
975648d0-4af2-44e6-ae16-5a2c06fd4aff
Lewis, Nathaniel M.
f0218afb-51ea-4141-a1e9-d031d8b98645
Gahagan, Jacqueline C.
025de491-1042-48b7-b59c-37a81d090dd2
Stein, Carlye
975648d0-4af2-44e6-ae16-5a2c06fd4aff

Lewis, Nathaniel M., Gahagan, Jacqueline C. and Stein, Carlye (2013) Preferences for rapid point-of-care HIV testing in Nova Scotia, Canada. Sexual Health, 10 (2), 124-132. (doi:10.1071/SH12100). (PMID:23369262)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Rapid point-of-care (POC) testing for HIV has been shown to increase the uptake of testing, rates of clients receiving test results, numbers of individuals aware of their status and timely access to care for those who test positive. In addition, several studies have shown that rapid POC testing for HIV is highly acceptable to clients in a variety of clinical and community-based health care settings. Most acceptability studies conducted in North America, however, have been conducted in large, urban environments where concentrations of HIV testing sites and testing innovations are greatest. Using a survey of client preferences at a sexual health clinic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, we suggest that HIV test seekers living in a region outside of Canada's major urban HIV epicentres find rapid POC testing highly acceptable. We compare the results of the Halifax survey with existing acceptability studies of rapid POC HIV testing in North America and suggest ways in which it might be of particular benefit to testing clients and potential clients in Nova Scotia and other regions of Canada that currently have few opportunities for anonymous or rapid testing. Overall, we found that rapid POC HIV testing was highly desirable at this study site and may serve to overcome many of the challenges associated with HIV prevention and testing outside of well-resourced metropolitan environments.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 October 2012
Published date: 1 February 2013
Organisations: Population, Health & Wellbeing (PHeW)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 377572
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/377572
ISSN: 1448-5028
PURE UUID: 38c6a399-4acb-40ca-b3e1-723d8bf760dc

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Date deposited: 09 Jun 2015 12:26
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 20:06

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Contributors

Author: Nathaniel M. Lewis
Author: Jacqueline C. Gahagan
Author: Carlye Stein

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