Is HIV testing normal or special? Opinions of health professionals in four European countries in 2008.

Elina Hemminki (1) , Elena Regushevskaya (1) , Kristi Ruutel (2) , Henrique Barros (3) , Tomasz Niemiec (4) , Minna Nikula (1) , Hannamaria Kuusio (1) , Jessika Deblonde (5)

1 National Institute for Health and Welfare [Helsinki]
2 National Institute for Health Development
3 University of Porto Medical School
4 University of Zielona Góra
5 UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University

The special norms in testing for HIV infection are not typical of testing or screening for other diseases. In four European countries, we studied health professionals' views on HIV testing. This study is based on cross-sectional surveys of two groups of health professionals: presidents of selected health professional societies and head physicians and nurses of selected hospital clinics in Belgium, Estonia, Finland and Portugal in 2008. A common structured semi-anonymous questionnaire was used in the four countries. The number of societies responding varied from 5-10 and for hospital clinics from 6-18; the response rates were from 32-100% and 41-100%, respectively. Opinions on whether HIV testing is like any other test and on the value of specific approaches in HIV testing varied both within and between countries. Some professionals thought that HIV testing is different from the testing of other infectious diseases; others thought that such an exceptional approach may be a disservice to people and to the health system. Many professionals thought that HIV testing should not be thought of only from the point of view of the individual to be tested, but also from that of other people (potential patients). Obligatory testing was considered appropriate in certain circumstances. Generally, more HIV testing in health care was called for. Normalization of HIV testing, i.e. considering it like any other diagnostic test, is unlikely to meet much opposition from health professionals. Larger surveys are needed to confirm the results.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Elina Hemminki, Elena Regushevskaya, Kristi Ruutel, Henrique Barros, Tomasz Niemiec, et al.. Is HIV testing normal or special? Opinions of health professionals in four European countries in 2008.. AIDS Care, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/09540121.2011.592819⟩. ⟨hal-00716635⟩