Perceptions of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing services among HIV-positive persons not in medical care.

Background And Objectives: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counseling, testing, and referral (CTR) are provided in a wide variety of settings.

Goal: To compare, by test setting, the perceptions of the testing experience among HIV-positive persons who were not receiving medical care.

Design: A baseline questionnaire was administered at enrollment into the Antiretroviral Treatment Access Study by the use of audio computer-assisted self-interview.

Results: Of 316 respondents, 27% reported that the counselor did not spend enough time with them and 22% that the counselor did not answer all questions. The odds were higher that persons in the following settings, compared with those at HIV test sites, would report that the counselor did not spend enough time with them: office of private physician or health maintenance organization (HMO) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 5.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-21.7), jail (AOR, 5.10; 95% CI, 1.06-24.6), and emergency room (ER) or hospital overnight visit (AOR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.15-7.44). Similarly, the odds were higher that persons in the following settings compared with those at HIV test sites would report that the counselor did not answer all questions: office of private physician or HMO (AOR, 9.62; 95% CI, 2.22-41.7), jail (AOR, 7.87; 95% CI, 1.50-41.4), and ER or hospital overnight visit (AOR, 3.32; 95% CI, 1.11-9.90).

Conclusion: Further training and quality assurance in HIV CTR may be needed in some test settings.