High patient acceptability but low coverage of provider-initiated HIV testing among adult outpatients with symptoms of acute infectious illness in coastal Kenya.

Background: Only approximately one in five adults are offered HIV testing by providers when seeking care for symptoms of acute illness in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our aims were to estimate testing coverage and identify predictors of provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC) and barriers to PITC implementation in this population.

Methods: We assessed HIV testing coverage among adult outpatients 18-39 years of age at four public and two private health facilities in coastal Kenya, during a 3- to 6-month surveillance period at each facility.