Background: Appropriate testing of people at risk for HIV is an important piece of the HIV care continuum. We analyzed HIV testing patterns of patients tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia (GC/CT) at a large urban health care system in New York City.
Methods: We retrospectively studied HIV and GC/CT testing from 2010 to 2015. Data were collected from a clinical laboratory database and linked to electronic health records. Patients were older than age 13 years, not known to be HIV positive, and had had a GC/CT test. The main outcome was the proportion of patients who had both HIV and GC/CT testing performed at the same encounter.
Results: We analyzed 85 768 patients with 139 404 GC/CT testing encounters. Most of the testing encounters (88% for men and 94% for women) were in the outpatient setting. Same-day HIV testing improved from 59% in 2010 to 70% in 2015 for male patients, and from 41% to 51% for female patients. In multivariate regression, male sex was associated with receipt of an HIV test (odds ratio [OR], 2.49; P < .001). Emergency department (OR, 0.22; P < .0001) and inpatient (OR, 0.10; P < .0001) locations were negatively associated with receipt of HIV testing. Among patients with HIV and GC/CT testing at the same encounter, 37 were HIV positive.
Conclusions: Concurrent HIV testing of patients being evaluated for GC/CT increased from 2010 to 2015. However, many patients failed to receive HIV testing, especially in emergency and inpatient settings. There continue to be missed opportunities for diagnosis of HIV among individuals with ongoing high-risk behavior.
Keywords: HIV; emergency department; sexually transmitted diseases; testing.