Pilot evaluation of men who have sex with men's ability to self-administer rapid HIV tests and interpret test results, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013

Background:

Men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately 60% of incident HIV cases in the U.S. and may benefit from frequent HIV testing.  As a preliminary step to assessing whether providing MSM with rapid HIV tests increases testing frequency, we evaluated how well a sample of MSM could self-administer rapid HIV tests and interpret test results.   

Methods:

22 MSM were recruited from prior HIV-related studies. Participants were provided written and video instructions and were observed self-administering the OraQuick® In-Home HIV Test (OraQuick) and the SURE CHECK® HIV 1/2 Rapid HIV Test (Sure Check).  Staff verified results. Participants completed online assessments that included interpreting pictures of HIV test results.

Results:

At enrollment 17(77%) reported being HIV-negative, 5(23%) HIV-positive; 19(86%) had post-high school education; and 12(55%) were non-Hispanic Black.  Twenty-one of 22 (95%) correctly conducted the OraQuick test; one spilled the vial contents. All 22 correctly interpreted their own OraQuick results.  Eighteen of 21 (86%) correctly conducted the Sure Check test, 3 had operational errors, and 1(5%) did not conduct the Sure Check test. All 21 correctly interpreted their own Sure Check result (4 HIV+, 14 HIV-, 3 invalid). Percent of pictures correctly interpreted: OraQuick–Positive 98.44%, Negative 100%, Invalid 80.95%;  Sure Check–Positive 94.29%, Negative 92.86%, Invalid 80.95%.

 Conclusions:

Most participants successfully self-administered rapid HIV tests and all correctly interpreted their results.  Interpretation of images depicting invalid results was problematic. Data are needed on the sensitivity and specificity of self-administered rapid HIV tests performed by MSM.