Cargando…
Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic
OBJECTIVE: Internet-based HIV testing offers the potential to address privacy-related barriers to testing and increase frequency of testing but may result in missed opportunities related to sexual health education and prevention that typically occur in face-to-face encounters. In this study, we asse...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6580762/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30636706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2018-053652 |
_version_ | 1783428082393153536 |
---|---|
author | Salway, Travis Thomson, Kimberly Taylor, Darlene Haag, Devon Elliot, Elizabeth Wong, Tom Fairley, Christopher K Grennan, Troy Shoveller, Jean Ogilvie, Gina Gilbert, Mark |
author_facet | Salway, Travis Thomson, Kimberly Taylor, Darlene Haag, Devon Elliot, Elizabeth Wong, Tom Fairley, Christopher K Grennan, Troy Shoveller, Jean Ogilvie, Gina Gilbert, Mark |
author_sort | Salway, Travis |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVE: Internet-based HIV testing offers the potential to address privacy-related barriers to testing and increase frequency of testing but may result in missed opportunities related to sexual health education and prevention that typically occur in face-to-face encounters. In this study, we assessed the HIV test knowledge and sexual risk behaviour of clients testing for HIV through GetCheckedOnline, an internet-based sexually transmitted and bloodborne infection testing platform inclusive of HIV testing, in comparison to clients testing through a large sexual health clinic. METHODS: We concurrently recruited GetCheckedOnline clients and clinic clients from Vancouver, Canada, over the course of a 10-month period during 2015–2016. Participants completed baseline and 3-month questionnaires, anonymous and online. A six-item score was used to estimate knowledge of HIV test concepts typically conveyed during an HIV pretest encounter in a clinic. We used multiple regression to estimate associations between testing modality (online vs clinic based) and two outcomes—HIV test knowledge and change in condom use pre/post-test—with adjustment for relevant background factors. RESULTS: Among 352 participants, online testers demonstrated higher HIV post-test knowledge than clinic-based testers (mean score 4.65/6 vs 4.09/6; p<0.05); this difference was reduced in adjusted analysis (p>0.05). Men who have sex with men, clients with a university degree, those who have lived in Canada >10 years and English speakers had higher HIV post-test knowledge (p<0.05). Eighteen per cent of online testers and 10% of clinic-based testers increased condom use during the 3 months post-test (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this comparative study between online and clinic-based testers, we found no evidence of decreased HIV test knowledge or decreased condom use following HIV testing through GetCheckedOnline. Our findings suggest that with careful design and attention to educational content, online testing services may not lead to missed opportunities for HIV education and counselling. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6580762 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-65807622019-07-02 Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic Salway, Travis Thomson, Kimberly Taylor, Darlene Haag, Devon Elliot, Elizabeth Wong, Tom Fairley, Christopher K Grennan, Troy Shoveller, Jean Ogilvie, Gina Gilbert, Mark Sex Transm Infect Health Services Research OBJECTIVE: Internet-based HIV testing offers the potential to address privacy-related barriers to testing and increase frequency of testing but may result in missed opportunities related to sexual health education and prevention that typically occur in face-to-face encounters. In this study, we assessed the HIV test knowledge and sexual risk behaviour of clients testing for HIV through GetCheckedOnline, an internet-based sexually transmitted and bloodborne infection testing platform inclusive of HIV testing, in comparison to clients testing through a large sexual health clinic. METHODS: We concurrently recruited GetCheckedOnline clients and clinic clients from Vancouver, Canada, over the course of a 10-month period during 2015–2016. Participants completed baseline and 3-month questionnaires, anonymous and online. A six-item score was used to estimate knowledge of HIV test concepts typically conveyed during an HIV pretest encounter in a clinic. We used multiple regression to estimate associations between testing modality (online vs clinic based) and two outcomes—HIV test knowledge and change in condom use pre/post-test—with adjustment for relevant background factors. RESULTS: Among 352 participants, online testers demonstrated higher HIV post-test knowledge than clinic-based testers (mean score 4.65/6 vs 4.09/6; p<0.05); this difference was reduced in adjusted analysis (p>0.05). Men who have sex with men, clients with a university degree, those who have lived in Canada >10 years and English speakers had higher HIV post-test knowledge (p<0.05). Eighteen per cent of online testers and 10% of clinic-based testers increased condom use during the 3 months post-test (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this comparative study between online and clinic-based testers, we found no evidence of decreased HIV test knowledge or decreased condom use following HIV testing through GetCheckedOnline. Our findings suggest that with careful design and attention to educational content, online testing services may not lead to missed opportunities for HIV education and counselling. BMJ Publishing Group 2019-03 2019-01-13 /pmc/articles/PMC6580762/ /pubmed/30636706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2018-053652 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 |
spellingShingle | Health Services Research Salway, Travis Thomson, Kimberly Taylor, Darlene Haag, Devon Elliot, Elizabeth Wong, Tom Fairley, Christopher K Grennan, Troy Shoveller, Jean Ogilvie, Gina Gilbert, Mark Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title | Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title_full | Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title_fullStr | Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title_full_unstemmed | Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title_short | Post-test comparison of HIV test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing HIV testing online versus in-clinic |
title_sort | post-test comparison of hiv test knowledge and changes in sexual risk behaviour between clients accessing hiv testing online versus in-clinic |
topic | Health Services Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6580762/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30636706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2018-053652 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT salwaytravis posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT thomsonkimberly posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT taylordarlene posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT haagdevon posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT elliotelizabeth posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT wongtom posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT fairleychristopherk posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT grennantroy posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT shovellerjean posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT ogilviegina posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic AT gilbertmark posttestcomparisonofhivtestknowledgeandchangesinsexualriskbehaviourbetweenclientsaccessinghivtestingonlineversusinclinic |