The Development and Implementation of an Outreach Program to Identify Acute and Recent HIV Infections in New York City

Abstract

Introduction: Since 2004, the authors have been operating First Call NYU, an outreach program to identify acute and recent HIV infections, also called primary HIV infections, among targeted at-risk communities in the New York City (NYC) metropolitan area.

Materials and methodology: First Call NYU employed mass media advertising campaigns, outreach to healthcare providers in NYC, and Internet-based efforts including search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet-based advertising to achieve these goals.

Results: Between October 2004 and October 2008, 571 individuals were screened through this program, leading to 446 unique, in-person screening visits. 47 primary HIV infections, including 14 acute and 33 recent HIV infections, were identified.

Discussion: Internet and traditional recruitment methods can be used to increase self-referrals for screening following possible exposure to HIV.

Conclusion: Community education of at-risk groups, with the goal of increased self-diagnosis of possible acute HIV infection, may be a useful addition to traditional efforts to identify such individuals.

Keywords: Advertising as topic; Community-institutional relations; HIV; Internet; Mass media.; New York City; Patient selection.

Fig. (1)

Number of unique callers to the dedicated First Call NYU phone line (dotted line) and unique in-person screening visits conducted by First Call NYU study staff (solid line) by calendar quarter, New York City, NY, October 2004 through October 2008. Time intervals of various methods of recruitment employed are also plotted.

Fig. (2)

Number of unique volunteers screened by First Call NYU study staff by calendar quarter, New York City, NY, October 2004 through October 2008. A fitted trend line is also plotted.

Fig. (3)

Number of unique volunteers seen through First Call NYU in New York City by 4 most successful recruitment methods -- Internet Search (heavy black line), Word-of-Mouth (broken line), Print Advertisements (thin black line) and Provider Referrals (dotted line) – by calendar quarter, New York City, NY, October 2004 through October 2008. Time intervals of various methods of recruitment employed are also plotted.