Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

HIV testing rate increased following recommendation of routine screening of acute medical admissions at Royal Darwin Hospital

HIV testing rate increased following recommendation of routine screening of acute medical... BackgroundTo improve HIV detection, Royal Darwin Hospital implemented a guideline in 2012 recommending routine HIV testing for all adult acute medical admissions. This study aimed to determine the uptake, point prevalence and impact on late diagnosis of HIV screening following guideline implementation. Methods: Data on the number of HIV tests and number of acute medical admissions over the 8 months prior and post guideline implementation were extracted from hospital databases. A qualitative survey was conducted to ascertain clinician response to routine screening. Results: Fourteen per cent of admissions were tested post-implementation compared with 5.3% during the implementation period (P<0.001). HIV prevalence pre-implementation was 1.4% compared with 0.3% following implementation (P<0.05). The average CD4 count at diagnosis was <200 cells/mm3. Conclusions: There was a significant increase in HIV testing following guideline implementation however, the overall testing rate remained low. Routine screening did not increase detection of HIV, and HIV continues to be diagnosed late at Royal Darwin Hospital. Methods for improving understanding of the rationale for routine screening and increased promotion of the guidelines are required to increase testing. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Sexual Health CSIRO Publishing

HIV testing rate increased following recommendation of routine screening of acute medical admissions at Royal Darwin Hospital

Loading next page...
 
/lp/csiro-publishing/hiv-testing-rate-increased-following-recommendation-of-routine-dwyYm6LSgV

References (25)

Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s). Published by CSIRO Publishing
ISSN
1448-5028
eISSN
1449-8987
DOI
10.1071/SH14136
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BackgroundTo improve HIV detection, Royal Darwin Hospital implemented a guideline in 2012 recommending routine HIV testing for all adult acute medical admissions. This study aimed to determine the uptake, point prevalence and impact on late diagnosis of HIV screening following guideline implementation. Methods: Data on the number of HIV tests and number of acute medical admissions over the 8 months prior and post guideline implementation were extracted from hospital databases. A qualitative survey was conducted to ascertain clinician response to routine screening. Results: Fourteen per cent of admissions were tested post-implementation compared with 5.3% during the implementation period (P<0.001). HIV prevalence pre-implementation was 1.4% compared with 0.3% following implementation (P<0.05). The average CD4 count at diagnosis was <200 cells/mm3. Conclusions: There was a significant increase in HIV testing following guideline implementation however, the overall testing rate remained low. Routine screening did not increase detection of HIV, and HIV continues to be diagnosed late at Royal Darwin Hospital. Methods for improving understanding of the rationale for routine screening and increased promotion of the guidelines are required to increase testing.

Journal

Sexual HealthCSIRO Publishing

Published: Jul 20, 2015

There are no references for this article.