HIV seropositivity rates in outreach-based counseling and testing services: program evaluation.

A common assumption is that outreach-based HIV counseling and testing services reach a clientele with a higher HIV seroprevalence than clinic-based counseling and testing. To examine this assumption, we analyzed Wisconsin's anonymous counseling and testing client records for 62,299 contacts (testing episodes) from 1992 to 1995. Bivariate analysis of counseling and testing service setting (outreach-based or clinic-based) and HIV test results suggested that outreach contacts were 23% (odds ratio [OR], 1.

Setting standards for the Wisconsin HIV Counseling and Testing Program: an application of threshold analysis.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counseling and testing (CT) services are an important component of any comprehensive HIV prevention program. Because resources are limited and must be used wisely, it is important to determine if the expenditures on CT services are sufficiently effective that they might be considered cost-saving or cost-effective to society. The policy analysis technique of "threshold analysis" was employed to determine how many HIV infections the publicly funded Wisconsin CT program would have to prevent in order to be considered cost-saving or cost-effective.