Abstract
Background: Despite the 2006 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for routine HIV testing in health care settings, many persons remain untested. Purpose: To determine physician barriers to HIV testing, we surveyed primary care physicians in community health centers in a high HIV prevalence city. Methods: Primary care physicians were invited via e-mail to participate in a Web-based survey. One hundred and thirty-seven physicians participated (response rate: 43.9%). Results: Fifty-five physicians (41.0%) were unaware of updated CDC HIV testing recommendations. Physicians were unaware that testing should be routinely offered in primary care settings caring for adolescents (62 physicians, 45.6%) and primary care settings caring for adults (33, 24.3%). Physicians were also unaware that teenage years patients aged 13 to 17 years (68, 49.6%) and adult patients aged 18 to 64 years (40, 29.2%) should be routinely HIV tested. Conclusion: With the new 2013 US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations to support routine HIV testing, it is critical to address ongoing physician HIV testing barriers to mitigate the HIV epidemic.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 296-299 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Baylor-UT Houston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (AI036211; PI: Arya), and an NIH/NIMH K23 Award (MH094235-01A1; PI: Arya). This work was supported in part by the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX (#CIN 13-413). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Keywords
- Community health centers
- Guidelines
- HIV testing
- Primary care physicians
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Dermatology
- Immunology