Some researchers believe that use of the HIV self-testing kit could empower individuals to manage their HIV risks, help couples make informed decisions before engaging in sexual activities, and address three important barriers to testing: stigma, convenience and privacy. However, questions remain about self-testing for HIV and its potential impact on population health and sexual behaviors.
Getting an infected person onto successful antiretroviral therapy lowers the chance that he or she will transmit the virus to someone else by 96 %. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 20 % of the 1.2 million infected Americans do not know their HIV sero-status and that another 50,000 are infected each year. result from those who are unaware they are HIV-infected, and self-testing could increase the number of people who know their status. It is estimated that half of all new infections in the U.S. The decision was aimed at increasing accessibility of testing and facilitating early entry into care of those testing HIV-positive. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in 2012 an over-the-counter rapid HIV test for self-use outside of the clinical setting. The availability of HIV self-testing kits offers potential opportunities to tackle HIV infection among individuals with high-risk practices.
Participants provided emotional support and linked their partners to support services. Although none of the participants tested positive, seven of their partners did.
When participants were asked about their anticipated reactions to a partner’s HIV positive self-test result, five themes emerged: provide emotional support refrain from engaging in sex with casual partner avoid high-risk sexual activity with both main and casual partners seek medical services and obtain a confirmatory test result. Three major themes emerged when participants were asked about their anticipated reactions to an HIV positive self-test result: managing emotional distress, obtaining HIV medical care, and postponing sexual activity. Grounded Theory was used to investigate these reactions in a two-phase study, one hypothetical, followed by a practical phase in which self-tests were distributed and used. We explored anticipated and actual reactions to receiving HIV positive results through self-testing with a diverse group of 84 gay and bisexual men in New York City.