Towards targeted screening for acute HIV infections in British Columbia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our objective was to describe the characteristics of acute and established HIV infections diagnosed in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Province-wide HIV testing and surveillance data were analyzed to inform recommendations for targeted use of screening algorithms to detect acute HIV infections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Acute HIV infection was defined as a confirmed reactive HIV p24 antigen test (or HIV nucleic acid test), a non-reactive or reactive HIV EIA screening test and a non-reactive or indeterminate Western Blot. Characteristics of unique individuals were identified from the British Columbia HIV/AIDS Surveillance System. Primary drug resistance and HIV subtypes were identified by analyzing HIV <it>pol </it>sequences from residual sera from newly infected individuals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From February 2006 to October 2008, 61 individuals met the acute HIV infection case definition, representing 6.2% of the 987 newly diagnosed HIV infections during the analysis period. Acute HIV infection cases were more likely to be men who have sex with men (crude OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.01-2.89], to have had a documented previous negative HIV test result (crude OR 2.89; 95% CI 1.52-5.51), and to have reported a reason for testing due to suspected seroconversion symptoms (crude OR 5.16; 95% CI 2.88-9.23). HIV subtypes and rates of transmitted drug resistance across all classes of drugs were similar in persons with both acute and established HIV infections.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Targeted screening to detect acute HIV infection is a logical public health response to the HIV epidemic. Our findings suggest that acute HIV infection screening strategies, in our setting, are helpful for early diagnosis in men who have sex with men, in persons with seroconversion symptoms and in previously negative repeat testers.</p

A brief tool to assess capacity to consent for medical care among homeless individuals with problematic substance use: study protocol

Background: Public health care increasingly uses outreach models to engage individuals who are marginalized, many of whom misuse substances. Problematic substance use, together with marginalization from the health care system, among homeless adults makes it difficult to assess their capacity to consent to medical care. Tools have been developed to assess capacity to consent; however, these tools are lengthy and unsuitable for outreach settings. The primary objective of this study is to develop, validate, and pilot a brief but sensitive screening instrument which can be used to guide clinicians in assessing capacity to consent in outreach settings. The goal of this paper is to outline the protocol for the development of such a tool. Methods/Design A brief assessment tool will be developed and compared to the MacArthur Competency Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T). As list of 36 possible questions will be created by using qualitative data from clinician interviews, as well as concepts from the literature. This list will be rated by content experts according to the extent that it corresponds to the test objectives. The instrument will be validated with 300 homeless adult volunteers who self-report problematic substance use. Participants will be assessed for capacity using the MacCAT-T and the new instrument. A combination of Classical Test Theory and advanced psychometric methods will be used for the psychometric analysis. Corrected Item-Total correlation will be examined to identify items that discriminate poorly. Guided exploratory factor analysis will be conducted on the final selection of items to confirm the assumptions for a unidimensional polytomous Rasch model. If unidimensionality is confirmed, an unstandardized Cronbach Alpha will be calculated. If multi-dimensionality is detected, a multidimensional Rasch analysis will be conducted. Results from the new instrument will be compared to the total score from the MacCAT-T by using Pearson’s correlation test. The new instrument will then be piloted in real-time by street outreach clinicians to determine the acceptability and usefulness of the new instrument. Discussion This research will build on the existing knowledge about assessing capacity to consent and will contribute new knowledge about assessing individuals whose judgment is impaired by substance use.Pediatrics, Department ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofSurgery, Department ofNon UBCMedicine, Faculty ofReviewedFacult