Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Apr;7(2):122-9.
doi: 10.1177/2150131915626563. Epub 2016 Jan 20.

Explaining the Presence of "Heterosexual" Female Clients of a Rapid HIV Testing Site Located in the Gay Village of Montreal, Quebec

Kim Engler  1 , Kathleen Rollet  2 , David Lessard  3 , Réjean Thomas  4 , Bertrand Lebouché  3
Affiliations

Explaining the Presence of "Heterosexual" Female Clients of a Rapid HIV Testing Site Located in the Gay Village of Montreal, Quebec

Kim Engler et al. J Prim Care Community Health. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Increasing access and uptake of HIV testing among at-risk women is needed. Examining women's motives for visiting a community-based rapid HIV testing site (Actuel sur Rue-AsR) oriented to men who have sex with men (MSM) could offer suggestions.

Objective: To compare the "heterosexual" female and male clients of AsR, located in Montreal's (Canada) gay village, to better understand the women's particular HIV prevention and sexual health service needs.

Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study analyzed questionnaire data provided by AsR clients and staff (nurse and community agent teams) between July 2012 and November 2013. Women and men reporting only opposite-sex partners were compared with chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, as appropriate, on sociodemographics, HIV-related behaviors, motives for visiting AsR, and health service provision.

Results: AsR received 1901 clients. Among these, 55 women and 147 men reported only opposite-sex partners. Women were significantly younger. Significantly greater proportions of women visited AsR because no appointment was necessary (67% vs. 48%), sought testing for condom failure (18% vs. 5%), and had no regular doctor (44% vs. 27%). Both groups mainly chose AsR for the rapid test results (80% and 77%), visited it to receive the rapid HIV test (71% and 76%), and sought testing due to unprotected vaginal sex (44% and 43%). Similar proportions saw the nurse (91% and 89%), received the rapid HIV test (44% and 35%), and were linked to a medical clinic (49% and 52%), especially, to receive complete sexually transmitted infection testing (50% and 44%).

Conclusions: The results of this innovative study highlight the draw of rapid HIV testing for "heterosexual" users of a site mainly targeting MSM. They also suggest that further research is warranted into the importance for this group of women clients of drop-in and linkage services, particularly given their possible lesser access to regular care.

Keywords: Canada; HIV; community-based testing site; diagnosis; rapid testing; women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Public Health Agency of Canada, Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control. HIV/AIDS among women in Canada. HIV/AIDS Epi Update 2010. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/epi/2010/pdf/EN_Chapter.... Accessed July 26, 2015.
    1. Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec. Programme de surveillance de l’infection par le virus de l’immunodéficience humaine (VIH) au Québec: rapport annuel 2013. 2014. https://www.inspq.qc.ca/pdf/publications/1919_Programme_Surveillance_Inf.... Accessed August 5, 2015.
    1. Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec. Optimiser le dépistage et le diagnostic de l’infection par le virus de l’immunodéficience humaine. 2011. http://www.inspq.qc.ca/pdf/publications/1324_OptimiserDepistageDiagnosti.... Accessed July 26, 2015.
    1. Public Health Agency of Canada. Summary: Estimates of HIV Prevalence and Incidence in Canada, 2011. 2012. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/survreport/estimat2011-.... Accessed July 26, 2015.
    1. Wertheimer S. Women and HIV testing in Canada: barriers and recommendations as identified by service providers: a summary of key research findings. 2011. http://www.cdnaids.ca/files.nsf/pages/womenandhivtestingincanada-asummar.... Accessed July 26, 2015.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources