Chilean Health Care Providers' Perceived Comfort in Performing Oral Rapid Testing for HIV: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: To understand key factors influencing Chilean health care providers' perceived comfort performing oral rapid HIV testing.

Design: One hundred and fifty health care providers completed a self-administered questionnaire that included a five-item scale measuring self-perceived comfort in conducting HIV pretest counseling, oral rapid testing, finger-prick testing, and delivering test results.

Results: Most participants (60%) envisioned good overall comfort performing oral rapid HIV testing (mean score of 16.

Predictors of readiness for oral rapid HIV testing by Chilean health care providers.

Objective: This study identified the personal characteristics that affect Chilean health care providers' readiness to adopt HIV Oral Rapid Testing (ORT) in Chile as a new clinical evidence-based practice (EBP).

Methods: Using a cross-sectional research design, the study sampled 150 nurses, midwives, and physicians employed at four clinics within the Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile Health Network in Santiago. Participants completed a self-administered survey asking about their demographic background, EBP attitudes and experience, personal beliefs related to HIV, the importance of HIV testing, and perceived self-comfort in performing a rapid HIV test.

Mujeres que Consumen Sustancias y su Vulnerabilidad frente al VIH en Santiago de Chile (Women Who Consume Substances and Their Vulnerability to HIV in Santiago of Chile).

Introduction: Women represent 15% of the people living with HIV in Chile. Risk behaviors for HIV are: multiple partners, unsafe sex, and exchange of sex for drugs/money.

Methodology: A correlational design was used.

Oral rapid test: an alternative to traditional HIV screening in Chile.

Objective: To compare the sensitivity and specificity of an Oral Rapid Test (ORT) to that of the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for HIV testing in Santiago, Chile; to track the number of study participants returning for ELISA testing results; and to analyze the participants' perceptions of the ORT compared to the ELISA.

Methods: A total of 497 people were recruited in Santiago, Chile: 153 had previously tested positive for HIV, and 344 were of unknown status. Participants were tested for HIV using both the ELISA and the ORT to examine and compare specificity and sensitivity.