Cancer Patient Acceptance of HIV Screening at a Large Tertiary Cancer Center

Abstract

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommend offering HIV testing for patients presenting for cancer care. Not recognizing and treating HIV infection adversely impacts both cancer treatment and HIV outcomes. Acceptance rates of oncology patients for HIV screening are not known. Our tertiary cancer center inserted language requesting permission to screen for HIV infection into the consent forms for initial presentation for cancer care. Willingness to undergo testing was examined in 29,549 consecutive new patients. These were analyzed by gender and age. Overall, 80.9% of patients agreed to HIV screening. Incorporation of language requesting permission for HIV screening into the consent form provided at presentation for cancer care, relieves clinicians from adding this task.

Figure 1.

Permission to screen for HIV in consent to diagnosis and treatment. This shows the language included in the institutional consent for diagnosis and treatment, with a check box included, requesting permission for HIV screening. If the patient does not check the box or declines HIV screening, HIV screening may still be completed but includes separate documentation.