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Comparative Study
. 2017 Feb;21(2):501-504.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-016-1497-4.

Fingerprick Versus Oral Swab: Acceptability of Blood-Based Testing Increases If Other STIs Can Be Detected

Ivan Balán  1 , Timothy Frasca  2 , Mobolaji Ibitoye  3 , Curtis Dolezal  1 , Alex Carballo-Diéguez  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Fingerprick Versus Oral Swab: Acceptability of Blood-Based Testing Increases If Other STIs Can Be Detected

Ivan Balán et al. AIDS Behav. 2017 Feb.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Self-testing has untapped potential as a strategy to improve access to HIV testing and to increase testing frequency. User acceptability of self-administered oral swab HIV tests is consistently high in both hypothetical and actual-use studies. We explored preferences for oral versus fingerprick HIV self-tests among men who have sex with men with a high risk profile. Participants indicated greater likelihood of using an oral swab over a blood-based test, notwithstanding lower price or quicker results from the latter. However, the likelihood of using an HIV fingerprick test substantially increased if it also offered information on other sexually transmitted infections.

El uso de las pruebas auto-administradas es una estrategia subutilizada para mejorar el acceso a la prueba para el VIH y para aumentar su frecuencia de uso. La aceptabilidad de las pruebas orales para el VIH es consistentemente alta entre los usuarios en estudios hipotéticos y de práctica. Exploramos las preferencias entre las pruebas orales y de punción digital, de hombres que tienen sexo con hombres (HSH), quienes tienen frecuentes conductas de riesgo. Los participantes indicaron una mayor probabilidad de usar la prueba oral sobre la de sangre, a pesar de ventajas de precio o de rapidez en dar resultados. Sin embargo, la probabilidad de usar una prueba de punción digital para el VIH aumentó sustancialmente si ésa les ofrecía además información sobre otras infecciones de transmisión sexual.

Keywords: Fingerprick; HIV testing; MSM; STI; Self-testing.

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References

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