A service evaluation comparing home-based testing to clinic-based testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B in Birmingham and Solihull. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Banerjee, Prita; Madhwapathi, Vidya; Thorley, Nicola; Radcliffe, Keith
• Is Part Of: International journal of STD & AIDS. Volume 31:Number 7(2020)
• Page Start: 613
• Page End: 618
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Screening -- other -- hepatitis B -- viral disease -- hepatitis C -- viral disease -- HIV -- viral disease; Sexually transmitted diseases -- Periodicals; AIDS (Disease) -- Periodicals; 616.951
• DOI: 10.1177/0956462419900461
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-4624

Abstract

The sexual health services in the Birmingham and Solihull area of the United Kingdom, called Umbrella, has been offering home-based testing for sexually transmitted infections to patients since August 2015. The aim of this service evaluation was to evaluate the uptake, return rate and new diagnosis rates of home-based testing in comparison with clinic-based testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), syphilis (STS) and hepatitis B. Home-based testing, although popular, had low uptake amongst high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM), compared to the clinic-based group (1% versus 11%, p < 0.001). This resulted in low positivity rates for HIV (0.02%) and STS (0.17%) and no new cases of hepatitis B in the home-based group. Therefore, our results show that home-based testing is not a cost-effective method of testing for HIV and likely this is also the case for hepatitis B and STS. Our recommendation would be to encourage uptake of home-based testing in high-risk groups such as MSM and Black Africans to improve the diagnosis rates of HIV, STS and hepatitis B. Alternatively, the continuation of home-based blood testing in the Birmingham and Solihull area will need to be reviewed by Umbrella as a cost-saving strategy for the service in the future.