Routine HIV testing may benefit teenagers

Routine HIV testing may benefit teenagers
An Indian health official stores blood samples from sex-workers and their clients in a HIV-positive test laboratory in Sonagachi, the red-light district of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, November 30, 2005. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Early, routine HIV testingmight help stem the spread of the infection among teenagers,according to researchers.
In a study of more than 1,200 sexually active 15- to21-year-olds, the researchers found that key HIV risk factors-- like having unprotected sex or having a high-risk partner --had no bearing on whether the study participants sought HIVtesting over the next three months.
Instead, the single most important factor was whether theyhad ever been tested before. Those who had were about threetimes more likely to seek testing during the study period, theresearchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"These findings were a bit surprising, since we thoughtteens would be more likely to get an HIV test if they engagedin risky behaviors, such as substance use during sex, orattended an HIV prevention workshop," Dr. Larry K. Brown, thesenior researcher on the study, said in a statement.
Since a history of HIV testing was so important, theimplication is that early, universal testing might encouragemore teenagers to get tested as they grow older, according toBrown and his colleagues at the Brown University Medical Schoolin Providence, Rhode Island.
Widespread testing of younger adolescents could have a"dramatic effect" on HIV infection rates, the researcherswrite, given that one-quarter of Americans with HIV are unawareof it -- and could be passing it on to others.
The study included 1,222 teenagers and young adults fromthree U.S. cities who were considered to be at high risk of HIVbecause they admitted to having unprotected sex. They wererandomly assigned to either attend a 3-hour HIV-preventionworkshop or go on a wait-list; the researchers then trackedtheir rates of HIV testing over the next three months.
They found that the prevention workshop seemed to make nodifference in the odds of participants getting tested for HIV;one-quarter in each group said they gotten a test during thethree-month study period.
Instead, the teenagers' history of HIV testing emerged asthe primary factor.
The findings suggest that getting kids into the habit ofHIV testing early on may affect their behavior down the road,according to Brown's team. They suggest that routine testingcould be offered not only in doctors' offices, but innon-traditional settings like schools and community centers aswell.
SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, December 2007