[B10165] Many individuals would use instant home HIV tests if approved in the U.S.

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain — July 7-12, 2002

[TITLE:] Many individuals would use instant home HIV tests if approved in the U.S.

[AUTHOR(S):] K.A. Phillips¹, J. Chen²

Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12;14:Abstract No. B10165

[ABSTRACT:]

BACKGROUND: Home collection tests, which allow users to obtain results 3-7 days after sending samples to a laboratory, are currently available in the U.S. However, home tests that would provide instant results are not available and are not under consideration for FDA approval. We examined willingness to use instant home HIV tests.

METHODS: Data from three sources: (1) We added six questions to the 1999 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) (n=2964), a state-representative survey that is part of an ongoing, 50 state BRFSS sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2) A survey of individuals being HIV tested at public clinics in San Francisco (n=365), (3) Three focus groups. We used multiple analysis methods (cross-tabulations, logistic regression, conjoint analysis, and qualitative analysis).

RESULTS: In the California survey, over one-third (39%) of respondents would consider using instant home HIV tests. Individuals who had never been tested were 72% more likely than individuals previously tested to be willing to use instant home tests, and Hispanics were 55% more willing than non-Hispanics to be willing to use instant home tests. In the San Francisco survey, respondents named instant home tests as their first choice for testing - but only if the results were highly accurate and the test was $10. Respondents disliked tests that can only provide preliminarily positive results without further confirmatory testing.

CONCLUSIONS: A large percentage of individuals would use instant home HIV tests, especially individuals that had never been tested. However, instant home tests are not under consideration for approval in the U.S. The development and approval of instant home HIV tests that are highly accurate and inexpensive should be important priorities in the U.S.

Presenting author: Kathryn Phillips

1University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St., Suite 420, Box 0613, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States.

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