Routine programmatic data show a positive population-level impact of HIV self-testing: the case of Cote d'Ivoire and implications for implementation
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objectives:
We estimate the effects of ATLAS's HIV self-testing (HIVST) kit distribution on conventional HIV testing, diagnoses, and antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiations in Côte d’Ivoire.
Design:
Ecological study using routinely collected HIV testing services program data.
Methods:
We used the ATLAS's programmatic data recorded between the third quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2021, in addition to data from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief dashboard. We performed ecological time series regression using linear mixed models. Results are presented per 1000 HIVST kits distributed through ATLAS.
Results:
We found a negative but nonsignificant effect of the number of ATLAS’ distributed HIVST kits on conventional testing uptake (−190 conventional tests; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −427 to 37). The relationship between the number of HIVST kits and HIV diagnoses was significant and positive (+8 diagnosis; 95% CI: 0 to 15). No effect was observed on ART initiation (−2 ART initiations; 95% CI: −8 to 5).
Conclusions:
ATLAS’ HIVST kit distribution had a positive impact on HIV diagnoses. Despite the negative signal on conventional testing, even if only 20% of distributed kits are used, HIVST would increase access to testing. The methodology used in this paper offers a promising way to leverage routinely collected programmatic data to estimate the effects of HIVST kit distribution in real-world programs.
We estimate the effects of ATLAS's HIV self-testing (HIVST) kit distribution on conventional HIV testing, diagnoses, and antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiations in Côte d’Ivoire.
Design:
Ecological study using routinely collected HIV testing services program data.
Methods:
We used the ATLAS's programmatic data recorded between the third quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2021, in addition to data from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief dashboard. We performed ecological time series regression using linear mixed models. Results are presented per 1000 HIVST kits distributed through ATLAS.
Results:
We found a negative but nonsignificant effect of the number of ATLAS’ distributed HIVST kits on conventional testing uptake (−190 conventional tests; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −427 to 37). The relationship between the number of HIVST kits and HIV diagnoses was significant and positive (+8 diagnosis; 95% CI: 0 to 15). No effect was observed on ART initiation (−2 ART initiations; 95% CI: −8 to 5).
Conclusions:
ATLAS’ HIVST kit distribution had a positive impact on HIV diagnoses. Despite the negative signal on conventional testing, even if only 20% of distributed kits are used, HIVST would increase access to testing. The methodology used in this paper offers a promising way to leverage routinely collected programmatic data to estimate the effects of HIVST kit distribution in real-world programs.
Date Issued
2022-11-01
Date Acceptance
2022-07-04
Citation
AIDS, 2022, 36 (13), pp.1871-1879
ISSN
0269-9370
Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
Start Page
1871
End Page
1879
Journal / Book Title
AIDS
Volume
36
Issue
13
Copyright Statement
Copyright Q 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000861441200015&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
antiretroviral treatment
CARE
diagnosis
female sex workers
HIV self-testing
Immunology
implementation
Infectious Diseases
key populations
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
men who have sex with men
Science & Technology
testing
TRANSMISSION
triangulation of programmatic data
Virology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-11-01