Objective We compare rates of rapid HIV testing, test offer, and acceptance in an urban emergency department (ED) when conducted by dedicated HIV counselors versus current members of the ED staff. Methods The Universal Screening for HIV Infection in the Emergency Room [USHER] trial is a prospective randomized controlled trial that implemented an HIV screening program in the ED of an urban tertiary medical center. ED patients were screened and consented for trial enrollment by an USHER research assistant. Eligible subjects were randomized to rapid HIV testing (oral OraQuick) offered by a dedicated counselor (counselor arm) or by an ED provider (provider arm). In the counselor arm, counselors—without other clinical responsibilities—assumed nearly all testing-related activities (consent, counseling, delivery of test results). In the provider arm, trained ED emergency service assistants (nursing assistants) consented and tested the participant in the context of other ED-related responsibilities. In this arm, ED house officers, physician assistants, or attending physicians provided HIV test results to trial participants. Outcome measures were rates of HIV testing and test offer among individuals consenting for study participation. Among individuals offered the test, test acceptance was also measured. Results From February 2007 through July 2008, 8,187 eligible patients were approached in the ED, and 4,855 (59%) consented and were randomized to trial participation. The mean age was 37 years, 65% were women, and 42% were white. The overall testing rate favored the counselor arm (57% versus 27%; P < .001); 80% (1,959/2,446) of subjects in the counselor arm were offered an HIV test compared with 36% (861/2,409) in the provider arm (P < .001). HIV test acceptance was slightly higher in the provider arm (counselor arm 71% versus provider arm 75%; P = .025). Conclusion Routine rapid HIV testing in the ED was accomplished more frequently by dedicated HIV counselors than by ED staff in the course of routine clinical work. Without dedicated staff, HIV testing in this setting may not be truly routine.

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We sought to develop individual-level Early Warning Indicators (EWI) of virologic failure (VF) for clinicians to use during routine care complementing WHO population-level EWI. A case-control study was conducted at a Durban clinic. Patients after ‡ 5 months of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) were defined as cases if they had VF [HIV-1 viral load (VL) > 1000 copies/mL] and controls (2:1) if they had VL £ 1000 copies/mL. Pharmacy refills and pill counts were used as adherence measures. Participants responded to a questionnaire including validated psychosocial and symptom scales. Data were also collected from the medical record. Multivariable logistic regression models of VF included factors associated with VF ( p < 0.05) in univariable analyses. We enrolled 158 cases and 300 controls. In the final multivariable model, male gender, not having an active religious faith, practicing unsafe sex, having a family member with HIV, not being pleased with the clinic experience, symptoms of depression, fatigue, or rash, low CD4 counts, family recommending HIV care, and using a TV/radio as ART reminders (compared to mobile phones) were associated with VF independent of adherence measures. In this setting, we identified several key individual-level EWI associated with VF including novel psychosocial factors independent of adherence measures.

Background Suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a strong predictor of virologic failure (VF) among people with HIV. Various methods such as patient self-report, pill counts and pharmacy refills have been utilized to monitor adherence. However, there are limited data on the accuracy of combining methods to better predict VF in routine clinical settings. We examined various methods to assess adherence including pill count, medication possession ratio (MPR), and self-reported adherence in order to determine which was most highly associated with VF after ≥ 6 months on ART. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a case-control study. At enrollment, pharmacy refill data were collected retrospectively from the medical chart, pill counts were completed to derive a pill count adherence ratio (PCAR) and a self-report questionnaire was administered to all participants. Parametric smooth splines and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses were carried out to assess the accuracy of the adherence methods. Results 458 patients were enrolled from October 2010 to June 2012. Of these, 158 (34.50%) experienced VF (cases) and 300 (65.50%) were controls. The median (IQR) PCAR was 1.10 (0.99–1.14) for cases and 1.13 (1.08–1.18) for controls (p<0.0001). The median MPR was 1.00 (0.97–1.07) for cases and 1.03 (0.96–1.07) for controls (p=0.83). Combination of PCAR and self-reported questions was highly associated with VF. Conclusion In this setting, a combination of pill count adherence and self-report adherence questions had the highest diagnostic accuracy for VF. Further validation of this simple, low-cost combination is warranted in large prospective studies.

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