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The Research Institute of the McGill
University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) concluded from a systematic review of
21worldwide studies that HIV self-testing is effective and removes social
stigma that prevents people from being tested for HIV. According to Dr. Nitika
Pant Pai, clinical researcher and assistant professor in the RI-MUHC Department
of Medicine, many people are reluctant to be screened for HIV because of stigma
and discrimination associated with the disease. Self-testing linked to
expedited counseling and care could remove social barriers to testing,
encourage early detection and treatment, and reduce HIV transmission.
Pant Pai and her colleagues reviewed
methods for expanding access to HIV testing and overcoming reluctance due to
discrimination and “perceived attitudes” toward testing. A variety of networks
in Africa, North America, and Europe have studied strategies for linking HIV
self-tests with counseling and referral services. RI-MUHC researchers compared
21 strategies for “acceptability, feasibility, and accuracy and success with
linkages to care.” The researchers defined “acceptability” as the number of
people who self-tested divided by the number of people who consented to
self-test.
The studies reviewed by the RI-MUHC
team used two methods for self-testing: self-testing with counseling from a
healthcare professional (supervised self-testing), or self-testing with
counseling available by phone or Internet (unsupervised self-testing). Most of
the studies were conducted in high-income settings.
Acceptability was high for both
supervised and unsupervised self-testing. Pant Pai also stated that
self-testing participants preferred using the oral swab to submitting to a
finger-prick or blood draw, and they preferred the home setting over HIV
testing in a medical facility. Self-testing also makes it possible to take a
self-test home for a partner.
The full report, “Supervised and
Unsupervised Self-Testing for HIV in High- and Low-Risk Populations: A
Systematic Review,” was published online in the journal PLoS Medicine (2013;
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001414).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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