Introduction: HIV counseling and testing is the vital and preliminary interventional step aimed at reducing the spread of HIV infection. The study was designed to determine the attitude of health care professionals towards voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV/AIDS at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional prospective study a sel...

In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended routine HIV testing for all Americans aged 13-64, which would eliminate requirements for written consent and pretest counseling as previously required. However, this approach may conflict with state requirements concerning pretest counseling and informed consent for HIV testing. Our survey of state HIV testing l...

BACKGROUND Male partner involvement in antenatal voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) has been shown to increase uptake of interventions to reduce the risk of HIV transmission in resource-limited settings. We aimed to identify methods for increasing male involvement in antenatal VCT and determine male correlates of accepting couple counseling in these settings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FIN...

Advances in the genetic basis of kidney disease may mean that genetic testing is increasingly important in reducing disease morbidity and mortality among patients. However, there is little research examining patient responses to genetic information for Mendelian and common kidney diseases. Existing research on kidney and other hereditary cancer syndromes can inform three major issues relevant t...

BACKGROUND Limited empirical data are available on the effects of genetic counseling and testing among African American women. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of genetic counseling and testing in African American women based on different levels of exposure: (a) women who were randomized to culturally tailored (CTGC) and standard genetic counseling (SGC) to women who declined randomization (...

The results of DNA analysis are presented for a series of 90 couples, with one partner at 50% risk for Huntington's disease (HD), who were referred for exclusion testing in pregnancy over a three year period. Thirty-seven couples were studied in detail. The aims of the study were to evaluate attitudes towards prenatal testing, before pregnancy and afterwards, and the effectiveness of our counse...

OBJECTIVE While generally two phases of prenatal genetic counseling are distinguished, i.e. pre- and post-test counseling, we revealed a third form of communication during the testing procedure. The content of this intermediate communication was explored. METHODS A secondary analysis was performed on data obtained in another observational study, which was focussed on how indefinite testing re...