HIV Screening in the Emergency Department Setting

Novel strategies are needed to reduce HIV transmission, particularly among individuals who are unaware of their HIV status. Emergency departments (EDs) routinely receive individuals in a medical setting where an opportunity exists to screen them for HIV. The purposes of this study are to determine whether the proportion of tested participants identified as HIV infected by targeted screening exceeds routine screening and to determine whether the program resources used per infected patient identified are lower for targeted screening than for routine screening.

Participants will be recruited from the University of Cincinnati Emergency Medicine Clinical Trials Center. The existing ED-based clinical HIV counseling and testing program in a lower HIV prevalence area will randomly alternate between two strategies for offering testing to ED participants: 1) targeted screening based on self-reported HIV risk and 2) routine screening. Participants will be randomly assigned to the targeted or routine screening group based on their presence in the ED during randomized days and times.

At study entry an interview, blood collection, and counseling will occur. Participants will be telephoned following their ED visit to be given their negative results. Participants with positive results will be asked to return to the ED for notification, counseling, and connections to subsequent care. Participants who are HIV infected will be transferred to the University of Cincinnati Infectious Disease Center for care.