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3C 5 Impact of a Routine, Opt-out HIV Testing Program and Risk of Progression to AIDS Among New HIV Diagnoses in North Carolina Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics

Wednesday, June 11, 2014: 11:25 AM
Grand Ballroom A/B/C/D1
Pamela Klein, PhD, Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, Lynne Messer, PhD, School of Community Health, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University, Portland, OR, Evan Myers, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, David Weber, MD, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, William Miller, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC and Peter Leone, MD, HIV/STD Prevention and Control Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Chapel Hill, NC

     

Background: Although routine HIV testing programs aim to identify persons earlier in the course of their HIV infection, the results of extant HIV testing programs are inconclusive. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of a routine, opt-out HIV testing program in North Carolina sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics on the risk of progression to AIDS after HIV diagnosis.

Methods: North Carolina residents aged 18-64 identified as new HIV-infected cases in North Carolina STD clinics from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2011 were included. Exposure status was dichotomized on the date of intervention implementation on November 1, 2007. Risk of progression to AIDS within 12 months of initial HIV diagnosis was analyzed using county-specific random-intercept multilevel binomial regression models to calculate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

Results: Of the 1203 persons newly diagnosed with HIV infection, 12% and 13% were diagnosed with AIDS within 12 months of their initial HIV diagnosis in the pre- and post-intervention periods, respectively. Overall, we did not observe an association between the introduction of the expanded HIV testing program and the risk of progression to AIDS (RR=1.04, 95% CI: 0.77-1.43). The intervention was associated with an increased risk of progression to AIDS among women (RR=2.32, 95% CI: 1.06-4.83) and persons who had previously been tested for HIV (RR=1.42, 95% CI: 0.92-2.19).

Conclusions: Overall, the routine, opt-out HIV testing program was not associated with a decreased risk of progression to AIDS. Among some subpopulations, the increased risk of progression to AIDS post-intervention was likely due to identification of persons who had been infected for many years but were not previously targeted for risk-based testing. If undiagnosed HIV-infected persons do not seek interactions with the healthcare system, they cannot benefit from routine HIV testing programs in clinical settings.

See more of: The Changing STI Prevention Landscape: Estimating the Size of the Safety Net Population and Implications for STD Clinics-Billing Plus Opt-out Testing for HIV
See more of: Oral and Poster
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