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
. 2018 Feb;22(2):616-628.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-017-1691-z.

Actual Versus Perceived HIV Testing Norms, and Personal HIV Testing Uptake: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study in Rural Uganda

Jessica M Perkins  1   2 , Viola N Nyakato  3 , Bernard Kakuhikire  3 , Pamela K Mbabazi  4 , H Wesley Perkins  5 , Alexander C Tsai  6   7   3 , S V Subramanian  7   8 , Nicholas A Christakis  9 , David R Bangsberg  3   10
Affiliations

Actual Versus Perceived HIV Testing Norms, and Personal HIV Testing Uptake: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study in Rural Uganda

Jessica M Perkins et al. AIDS Behav. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

HIV testing is an essential part of treatment and prevention. Using population-based data from 1664 adults across eight villages in rural Uganda, we assessed individuals' perception of the norm for HIV testing uptake in their village and compared it to the actual uptake norm. In addition, we examined how perception of the norm was associated with personal testing while adjusting for other factors. Although the majority of people had been tested for HIV across all villages, slightly more than half of men and women erroneously thought that the majority in their village had never been tested. They underestimated the prevalence of HIV testing uptake by 42 percentage points (s.d. = 17 percentage points), on average. Among men, perceiving that HIV testing was not normative was associated with never testing for HIV (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.7-4.0, p < 0.001). Results suggest an opportunity for interventions to emphasize the commonness of HIV testing uptake.

Keywords: HIV testing; Perception; Social norms; Stigma; Uganda.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Jessica M Perkins declares that she has no conflict of interest. Viola N Nyakato declares that she has no conflict of interest. Bernard Kakuhikire declares that he has no conflict of interest. Pamela K. Mbabazi declares that she has no conflict of interest. H. Wesley Perkins declares that he has no conflict of interest. Alexander C. Tsai declares that he has no conflict of interest. S. V. Subramanian declares that he has no conflict of interest. Nicholas A. Christakis declares that he has no conflict of interest. David R. Bangsberg declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Granich RM, Gilks CF, Dye C, De Cock KM, Williams BG. Universal voluntary HIV testing with immediate antiretroviral therapy as a strategy for elimination of HIV transmission: a mathematical model. The Lancet. 2009;373(9657):48–57. - PubMed
    1. Walensky RP, Bassett IV. HIV self-testing and the missing linkage. PLoS Med. 2011;8(10):e1001101. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Walensky RP, Wood R, Fofana MO, Martinson NA, Losina E, April MD, et al. The clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of routine, voluntary HIV screening in South Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2011;56(1):26–35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Staveteig S, Wang SF, Head SK, Bradley SEK, Nybro E. Demographic Patterns of HIV Testing Uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa Calverton. Maryland, USA: ICF International; 2013. (Reports No. 30). Available from: http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/CR30/CR30.pdf.
    1. Hensen B, Baggaley R, Wong VJ, Grabbe KL, Shaffer N, Lo Y-RJ, et al. Universal voluntary HIV testing in antenatal care settings: a review of the contribution of provider-initiated testing & counselling. Trop Med Intl Health. 2012;17(1):59–70. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources