AEGiS-07IAC: Experimental reduction of anxiety during HIV testing as a function of psychological counselling in Santo Domingo, 1989.

7th International AIDS Conference


Florence, Italy — June 16-21, 1991

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Experimental reduction of anxiety during HIV testing as a function of psychological counselling in Santo Domingo, 1989.

Int Conf AIDS 1991 Jun 16-21; 7:459 (abstract no. W.D.4287)
Tapia V, De Moya EA, Koenig H; Programa Control ETS/SIDA (PROCETS, MINHEALTH), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (DR)

OBJECTIVES: To experimentally determine the critical moment and the optimal number of counselling sessions for anxiety reduction during the process of HIV testing in a laboratory setting.

METHODS: Eight experimental groups of 15 persons attending the DR National Laboratory for HIV testing during 1989 received different schedules of Pre-Elisa, Pre-Handing of Results, and Post-Handing of Results' counselling versus no-counselling sessions from trained psychologists. A questionnaire assessed individual HIV risk of infection, source of referral for testing, and ongoing anxiety levels.

RESULTS: HIV seroprevalence was 2.5% (3 out of 120) for the entire group. Half of the tests were prescribed to elective surgery candidates and 25% to "worried-well" persons. Anxiety levels at the end of the process were highest for the "No Counselling" and the "Only Pre-Elisa counselling" conditions. Two sessions were necessary for significant anxiety reduction to take place. The "Pre-Handing of Results" moment was critical for effective intervention.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: More than half of HIV screening tests are being prescribed to no-risk and low-risk persons in the DR. Evidence showed that two counselling sessions were a sufficient condition for anxiety reduction, provided "Pre-Handing of Results" counselling was one of them.

Keywords: AEGIS, Counseling, HIV Seroprevalence, Psychotherapy, Anxiety, Genetic Counseling, Risk, Mass Screening, Risk-Taking, physiology, psychology, genetics, ICA7KWDaegis,counseling,hivseroprevalence,psychotherapy,anxiety,geneticcounseling,risk,massscreening,risk-taking,physiology,psychology,genetics,ica7
910616
WD4287

Copyright © 1991 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.