The experience of having a positive HIV antibody test

Abstract

Little is known about the logistics of taking an HIV antibody test and yet knowledge of people's experiences of having a test result is helpful to evolving a sensitive and client oriented service and can provide some guidelines for organisation issues around testing. This paper reports the experiences of 252 gay men who had an HIV test which proved to be positive. The most frequent reasons for people to take a test were perception of personal risk or were related to perceived health problems. Ten per cent of people did not know they had had a test until they were told they were anti HIV positive--lack of knowledge was related mostly to the place where the test was done. Over one third of people said they knew little about the test or its implications before they contacted anyone, over half said they did not receive information at the time of the test and 41% when they were given the result. There were few changes over time in the experience of having a test.

Re-appraising HIV Testing among Scottish Gay Men: The Impact of New HIV Treatments

“…In understanding gay men's rationale for not testing, for example, anxiety over waiting for test results was important (Billington, Imrie, Chopin, Copas, Paragreen, & McOwan 1999;Davies, Hickson, Weatherburn, & Hunt, 1993), as was a reticence to make lifestyle changes following test results (Siegel et al, 1989) and indeed the financial costs associated with testing due to difficulties obtaining life insurance, for example (Dawson et al, 1991). Conversely, although also not reported here, this study also found factors which were associated with seeking HIV testing, such as the role of unprotected sex (Chippendal, French, & Miller, 1998;McCann & Wadsworth, 1991;Myers, Haubrich, Cockerill, Calzavora, Millson, & Bowlby, 1999) relationship development (Davies et al, 1993;Myers et al, 1999) and perceptions of one's own ill health (McCann & Wadsworth, 1991;Myers et al, 1999;Siegel, Levine, Brooks, & Kern, 1989).…”

To test or not? HIV antibody testing amongst gay men

“…Other factors which affected testing decisions and structured the perceived advantages of testing related to: available treatments (Siegel et al 1989, Elford et al 1998a, Billington et al 1999Sherr et al 1999), perceptions of own ill health (Siegel et al 1989, McCann and Wadsworth 1991, Myers et al 1999, having an HIV-positive partner who had died of AIDS (Myers et al 1999) and the desire to reduce the anxiety of not knowing one's HIV status (Siegel et al 1989, Myers et al 1999). …”

“…Reasons to seek an HIV test were often linked to particular events such as episodes of unprotected sex (McCann and Wadsworth 1991, Chippendale et al 1998, Myers et al 1999 or relationship development , Myers et al 1999), or were time related, for example, as part of regular sexual health screening (Chippendale et al 1998). Other factors which affected testing decisions and structured the perceived advantages of testing related to: available treatments (Siegel et al 1989, Elford et al 1998a, Billington et al 1999Sherr et al 1999), perceptions of own ill health (Siegel et al 1989, McCann and Wadsworth 1991, Myers et al 1999, having an HIV-positive partner who had died of AIDS (Myers et al 1999) and the desire to reduce the anxiety of not knowing one's HIV status (Siegel et al 1989, Myers et al 1999).…”

Perceptions of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Testing Services Among HIV-Positive Persons Not in Medical Care

“…25,26 -28 Not receiving sufficient information or not having enough time with the counselor was associated with less satisfaction with the HIV testing process. 25,29 One study found that freestanding HIV test sites performed better in terms of client-centered counseling than did STD clinics, drug-treatment centers, and family-planning clinics. 30 More research is needed to better understand how the HIV CTR experience in varied settings could be improved for the diverse populations served.…”