Researchers evaluated more than 3,000 patients who sought HIV testing in community-based clinics in or near San Diego (CA, USA) to study the yield of testing with a rapid test plus NAT and to see whether patients would be willing to access their results by phone or computer.

The investigators, from University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine (USA), published their study June 14, 2010, in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, revealed that NAT testing increased the HIV detection yield by 23%, and that a large majority of study participants received their negative test results by automated phone or internet systems.

"While the findings may not be generalized to all populations and testing programs, we did find that NAT programs that include automated systems for result reporting can increase case yield, especially in settings that cater to those men having sex with men," said the study's first author Sheldon Morris, M.D., MPH, assistant clinical professor at UCSD's Antiviral Research Center.

In spite of decades of prevention efforts in the United States, the incidence rate of HIV has remained constant. Because the earliest stages of HIV infection represent a period of maximum infectiousness, early and accurate detection is crucial to control the HIV epidemic. "Extending the use of NAT to routine HIV testing programs might help decrease the HIV incidence rate by identifying persons with acute infection that would otherwise be missed through routine screening,” said Dr. Morris. "In addition, automated reporting of negative results may prove an acceptable and less resource intense alternative to face-to-face reporting.”

The patients were first tested for HIV with a rapid saliva test. If the result was positive, a counselor informed the patient and blood was obtained for a conventional HIV test. If the result was negative, blood was obtained for a NAT. Nearly one quarter of persons with identified cases of HIV had positive results only by NAT testing. More than two-thirds of patients with negative NAT results retrieved them via computer or voicemail.

Most participants in the San Diego study (56%) and those with HIV (91%) were men having sex with men. According to the UCSD researchers, those with higher incomes, younger ages, no testing at substance abuse rehabilitation centers, no recent syphilis, and no methamphetamine use were more likely to access negative NAT results by either internet or voicemail systems.

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University of California, San Diego School of Medicine