breaking bad news is one of the most burdensome tasks physicians face in their everyday practice. it becomes even more challenging in the context of hiv + patients because of stigma and discrimination. the aim of the current study is to evaluate the quality of giving hiv seroconversion news according to spikes protocol. numbers of 154 consecutive hiv + patients from imam khomeini hospital testi...

OBJECTIVE Voluntary HIV counseling and testing are provided to all Brazilian pregnant women with the purpose of reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission. The purpose of the study was to assess characteristics of HIV testing and identify factors associated with HIV counseling and testing. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out comprising 1,658 mothers living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. ...

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...

This study investigated heterosexual HIV risk behaviors, changes in stage of change for safer sex and factors associated with such changes, among a diverse sample of 560 heterosexually active individuals presenting at publicly funded HIV C&T sites. Questionnaires were administrated before HIV C&T, and three months afterwards. Positive serostatus was the most significant predictor of safer behav...

BACKGROUND HIV counseling and testing is an important intervention in the prevention, control and management of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Counseling and testing can be an entry point for prevention, care and support. Knowledge of the quality of services and motivations for testing by individuals is important for effective understanding of the testing environment. METHODS A cross...

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, thousands of Americans are infected with HIV but are unaware of their infection status. National disease prevention goals to identify and treat these individuals will benefit from HIV risk screening, counseling, testing, and referral services conducted in nontraditional settings and the use of alternative diagnostic methods such...

BACKGROUND The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended opt-out HIV testing (testing without the need for risk assessment and counseling) in all health care encounters in the US for persons 13-64 years old. However, the overall costs and consequences of these recommendations have not been estimated before. In this paper, I estimate the costs and public...

Recent advances in HIV antiretroviral therapy and the availability of prophylaxis for opportunistic infections, combined with the opportunity to prevent perinatal HIV infection, underscores the value of early diagnosis of HIV infection. HIV antibody home test kits offer individuals the opportunity to collect a blood sample, send it anonymously to a laboratory, and receive counseling and referra...

BACKGROUND Men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly MSM who identify as African-American or Black (BMSM), are the sociodemographic group that is most heavily burdened by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in the United States. To meet national HIV testing goals, there must be a greater emphasis on novel ways to promote and deliver HIV testing to MSM. Obstacles to standard, cli...

INTRODUCTION Rapid HIV testing in high-risk populations can increase the number of persons who learn their HIV status and avoid spending clinic resources to locate persons identified as HIV infected. METHODS We determined the cost to sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics of point-of-care rapid HIV testing using data from 7 public clinics that participated in a randomized trial of rapid t...