A specific, single-session counseling intervention focusing on a reevaluation of a person's self-justifications operant during a recent occasion of high-risk behavior may prove useful in decreasing individual risk behavior and thus limiting community-level HIV transmission.
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated attitudes toward name-based reporting of HIV. METHODS: One hundred thirty high-risk, male repeat testers received information on the public health benefits of name-based reporting and reported their intentions to test. RESULTS: Of the 67 men who were randomly selected and asked their intentions before hearing the benefits, 63% said they would not test if reporting were required. After hearing the benefits, 19% changed their minds (P < .014). Of the 63 men who were asked only after hearing the benefits, 44% would not test. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing name-based reporting without working before-hand to change attitudes could undermine the benefits of both testing and HIV surveillance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.