P118 HIV testing in the critical care setting: It's 'indicated'. (16th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Temple, Adam; Sharp, Rachel
• Is Part Of: Sexually transmitted infections. Volume 98(2022)Supplement 1
• Page Start: A77
• Page End: A77
• Publication Date: 2022-06-16
• Subjects: Sexually transmitted diseases -- Periodicals; HIV infections -- Periodicals; 616.951005
• DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-BASHH-2022.163
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-4973

Abstract

Abstract : Introduction: In 2018, an estimated 7% of people with HIV in the UK were undiagnosed. The main area requiring improvement to reduce transmission is testing. 1 Patients with indicator conditions (conditions associated with an undiagnosed seroprevalence of >1/1000) 1 represent a demographic with a higher pre-test probability than the general population. We aimed to assess how effectively we were testing for HIV in critical care admissions with indicator conditions. Methods: We examined critical care admissions at one centre over a 2-month period. We identified how many patients with indicator conditions were tested for HIV versus our standard: British HIV Association and British Association for Sexual Health and HIV testing guidelines recommend all patients with indicator conditions should be offered a test. 1 Our data collection process is outlined in figure 1 . Results: Of 131 admissions, 54 had an indicator condition and 38.9% received a HIV test. Only 24.1% of these patients were tested in critical care, with 53% of these tests being instigated by ITU/HDU staff, shown in figure 2 . Discussion: In one critical care unit, HIV testing in indicator conditions is suboptimal. Our data support the established principle that hesitancy of staff represents a significant barrier to testing. 1, 2 We have introduced a prompt onto the ITU admission proforma with a reference to indicator conditions, as well as departmental visual aids (including posters and stickers for computers) to educate and empower staff to test for HIV. We are repeating the methodology to assess for improvement in testing in the hope this contributes to fewer late diagnoses. References: Palfreeman A, Sullivan A, Rayment M et al. British HIV Association/British Association for Sexual Health and HIV/British Infection Association adult HIV testing guidelines 2020. HIV Med 2020; 21 Suppl 6: 1-26. Adrian Palfreeman, Martin Fisher, Ed Ong. Testing for HIV. Clinical Medicine Oct 2009, 9 (5) 471-476; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.9-5-471