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 Jan/Feb;133(1):3-21.
doi: 10.1177/0033354917738769. Epub 2017 Nov 28.

Evaluating the Evidence for More Frequent Than Annual HIV Screening of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States: Results From a Systematic Review and CDC Expert Consultation

Elizabeth A DiNenno  1 , Joseph Prejean  1 , Kevin P Delaney  1 , Kristina Bowles  1 , Tricia Martin  1 , Amrita Tailor  1 , Gema Dumitru  1 , Mary M Mullins  1 , Angela Hutchinson  1 , Amy Lansky  1
Affiliations

Evaluating the Evidence for More Frequent Than Annual HIV Screening of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States: Results From a Systematic Review and CDC Expert Consultation

Elizabeth A DiNenno et al. Public Health Rep. 2018 Jan/Feb.

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended in 2006 that sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) be screened for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at least annually. A workgroup comprising CDC and external experts conducted a systematic review of the literature, including benefits, harms, acceptability, and feasibility of annual versus more frequent screening among MSM, to determine whether evidence was sufficient to change the current recommendation. Four consultations with managers of public and nonprofit HIV testing programs, clinics, and mathematical modeling experts were conducted to provide input on the programmatic and scientific evidence. Mathematical models predicted that more frequent than annual screening of MSM could prevent some new HIV infections and would be more cost-effective than annual screening, but this evidence was considered insufficient due to study design. Evidence supports CDC's current recommendation that sexually active MSM be screened at least annually. However, some MSM might benefit from more frequent screening. Future research should evaluate which MSM subpopulations would benefit most from more frequent HIV screening.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; gay and bisexual; policy; screening; testing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

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

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monitoring selected national HIV prevention and care objectives by using HIV surveillance data—United States and 6 dependent areas, 2014. HIV Surveill Suppl Rep. 2017;22(2):1–87.
    1. Lundgren JD, Babiker AG, Gordin F, et al. ; INSIGHT START Study Group. Initiation of antiretroviral therapy in early asymptomatic HIV infection. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(9):795–807. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Palella FJ, Jr, Delaney KM, Moorman AC, et al. Declining morbidity and mortality among patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection. HIV Outpatient Study Investigators. N Engl J Med. 1998;338(13):853–860. - PubMed
    1. Palella FJ, Jr, Deloria-Knoll M, Chmiel JS, et al. Survival benefit of initiating antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected persons in different CD4+ cell strata. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138(8):620–626. - PubMed
    1. Cohen MS, Chen YQ, McCauley M, et al. ; HPTN 052 Study Team. Prevention of HIV-1 infection with early antiretroviral therapy. N Engl J Med. 2011;365(6):493–505. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources