1. Acceptability and outcomes of distributing HIV self-tests for male partner testing in Kenyan maternal and child health and family planning clinics
- Author
-
Harison Lagat, Jillian Pintye, John Kinuthia, Grace John-Stewart, Kenneth K. Mugwanya, Emily R. Begnel, Harsha Thirumurthy, Alison L. Drake, Anjuli D. Wagner, Felix Abuna, Julia C Dettinger, and Jared M. Baeten
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Kenya ,Adolescent ,Immunology ,Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ,HIV Infections ,medicine.disease_cause ,Article ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pregnancy ,Interquartile range ,medicine ,Humans ,Immunology and Allergy ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Young adult ,Diagnostic Tests, Routine ,business.industry ,Maternal and child health ,Patient Acceptance of Health Care ,medicine.disease ,Confidence interval ,Sexual Partners ,030104 developmental biology ,Infectious Diseases ,Family planning ,Family medicine ,Self-Examination ,Female ,business - Abstract
Background Providing HIV self-tests to women for distribution to male partners may provide a unique opportunity to increase male partner and couples testing among women in HIV high-burden settings. Methods Between November 2017 and June 2018, we offered self-tests for at-home couples or partner HIV testing to HIV-uninfected women seeking routine maternal and child health and family planning services at eight facilities in Kisumu, Kenya. Women accepting self-tests were offered at least two self-tests (OraQuick) to take to their partner(s) with instructions on use. HIV self-testing (HIVST) outcomes were evaluated using available programmatic data. Results Overall, 3620 women were offered self-tests for at-home male partner HIV testing. The median age was 24 years (interquartile range 21-28) and 81% were in monogamous marriages. Overall, 1422 (39%) women reported having a partner of unknown HIV status, of whom 755 (53%) accepted self-tests. Among women with partners of unknown HIV status who declined self-tests (n = 667), 49% reported needing to consult their partner. Pregnant women were more likely to accept HIVST than nonpregnant women (prevalence ratio = 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.0-1.4, P = 0.013). Self-testing outcomes were ascertained for 389 (44%) women who accepted self-tests. Among these women, 93% offered HIVSTs to their male partner; of these, 95% reported their male partners used the self-test and 99% used a self-test with their partner. Conclusion Among women attending routine maternal and child health and family planning services who had male partners of unknown HIV status, over half accepted self-tests for partner testing. Most women with outcomes ascertained reported that male partners accepted and used self-tests and that couples testing occurred.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF