At-Home Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Carnevale, Caroline; Richards, Paul; Cohall, Renee; Choe, Joshua; Zitaner, Jenna; Hall, Natalie; Cohall, Alwyn; Whittier, Susan; Green, Daniel A.; Sobieszczyk, Magdalena E.; Gordon, Peter; Zucker, Jason

doi:10.1097/olq.0000000000001313

Cited by 29 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Online surveys have documented the challenges patients have encountered accessing services, including impacting the ability of men who have sex with men (MSM) to access PrEP, STI, and HIV testing, 14 but the pandemic has resulted innovative practices to provide sexual health services without requiring in-person visits, including mailing test kits to patients' homes. 15 , 16 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreases in Reported Sexually Transmitted Infections During the Time of COVID-19 in King County, WA: Decreased Transmission or Screening?

et al. 2021

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreases in Reported Sexually Transmitted Infections During the Time of COVID-19 in King County, WA: Decreased Transmission or Screening?

et al. 2021

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“…In addition, all precautions against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection should be maintained while the pandemic is still ongoing; these include screening of symptomatic clients and those with exposure to confirmed/suspect cases; physical distancing; universal use of face masks and other personal protective equipment; hand hygiene; and use of telemedicine or other remote technologies whenever possible [ 18 ]. We also recommend actively tracing clients who fail to attend clinical consultations or ART refill visits; enhancing support groups for those most in need (even virtually); providing an HIV self‐test as an alternative to facility‐based testing [ 19 ]; and creating alternative routes for delivery of ART for clients who work in essential activities and are exposed to extraordinary demands during the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) on HIV testing and care provision across four continents

Rick¹,

Odoke²,

Hombergh³

et al. 2021

HIV Medicine

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Objectives The coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic has been associated with severe disruptions in health care services, and nonpharmacological measures such as social distancing also have an impact on access to screening tests and on the long‐term care of patients with chronic conditions globally. We aimed to describe the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on HIV testing and treatment and to describe strategies employed to mitigate the impact of COVID‐19 on HIV care. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we used secondary data from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Global Quality Program from 44 countries in four continents (Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Africa), and compared information on HIV testing, percentage of positive results, number of in‐person appointments, and number of new enrolments in HIV care from 1 January 2020 to 31 August 2020 with the equivalent period in 2019. Results Despite marked inter‐country heterogeneities, we found that COVID‐19 was associated with a significant reduction in HIV testing, an increase in the percentage of positive tests, a reduction in the number of in‐person consultations and a reduction in the number of new enrolments in care, despite the implementation of several mitigation strategies. The impact of COVID‐19 differed across continents and key populations. Conclusions Our findings suggest that, in the years to come, health care services must be prepared to respond to the impact of COVID‐19 on HIV testing and care. Providers and facilities should build on the lessons learned so far to further improve mitigation strategies and establish care priorities for both the pandemic and the post‐pandemic periods.

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic called for the fast implementation of new and easy-to-access methods to provide patients with HIV testing to avoid secondary epidemics [49]. HIV at-home self-testing, facilitated through the mLab App, is an innovative and reliable approach of accessing HIV tests and results without having to attend a clinic setting, where the risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmissions is high [50,51]. The ease of use and accessibility has made home testing progressively popular [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A randomized controlled trial of an mHealth intervention for increasing access to HIV testing and care among young cisgender men and transgender women: the mLab App study protocol

et al. 2021

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Background The number of youth living with HIV in the United States (US) continues to rise, and racial, ethnic, and sexual minority youth including young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and young transgender women (YTGW) bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic. Due to social and healthcare system factors, many YMSM and YTGW do not seek HIV testing services and are therefore less likely to be aware that they are infected. Mobile health technology (mHealth) has the ability to increase uptake of HIV testing among these populations. Thus, the mLab App—which combines HIV prevention information with a mobile phone imaging feature for interpreting at-home HIV test results—was developed to improve testing rates and linkage to care among Black, Latino, and other YMSM and YTGW living in New York City and Chicago and their surrounding areas. Methods This study is a three-arm randomized controlled trial among YMSM and YTGW aged 18–29 years. Participants are randomized to either the mLab App intervention including HIV home test kits and standard of preventive care, standard of preventive care only, or HIV home test kits and standard of preventive care only. Discussion mHealth technology used for HIV prevention is capable of delivering interventions in real-time, which creates an opportunity to remotely reach users across the country to strengthen their HIV care continuum engagement and treatment outcomes. Specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic, mHealth technology combined with at-home testing may prove to be essential in increasing HIV testing rates, especially among populations at high-risk or without regular access to HIV testing. Trial registration This trial was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03803683) on January 14, 2019.

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At-Home Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 29 publications

References 9 publications

Decreases in Reported Sexually Transmitted Infections During the Time of COVID-19 in King County, WA: Decreased Transmission or Screening?

Decreases in Reported Sexually Transmitted Infections During the Time of COVID-19 in King County, WA: Decreased Transmission or Screening?

Impact of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) on HIV testing and care provision across four continents

A randomized controlled trial of an mHealth intervention for increasing access to HIV testing and care among young cisgender men and transgender women: the mLab App study protocol

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