Abstract

Community-based HIV testing in a non-medical setting for men who have sex with men (MSM), results of a pilot project: ANRS-COM'TEST

K. Champenois^1,2, J.-M. Le Gall³, S. Vermoesen⁴, D. Rojas Castro³, S. Jean⁵, C. Martin⁶, L. Rios⁷, O. Benoit⁸, C. Jacquemin⁴, B. Spire^3,9, Y. Yazdanpanah<sup>1,10

1</sup>Faculté de Médecine de Lille, EA2694, Lille, France, ²LEM CNR UMR8179, Lille, France, ³AIDES France, Pantin, France, ⁴CHRU de Lille, Centre d'Investigation Clinique, Lille, France, ⁵AIDES Hérault, Montpellier, France, ⁶AIDES Nord Pas-de-Calais, Lille, France, ⁷AIDES Gironde, Bordeaux, France, ⁸AIDES Paris, Paris, France, ⁹INSERM UMR912, Marseille, France, ¹⁰CH Tourcoing, Service Universitaire des Maladies Infectieuses et du Voyageur, Tourcoing, France

Background: Shortening the time between HIV infection and HIV testing is a major public health goal, especially among highly exposed populations. The objective of the ANRS-COM'TEST was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a community-based rapid HIV testing in a non-medical setting targeting MSMs.
Methods: ANRS-COM'TEST offers counseling and rapid HIV testing in four French cities. Sessions are exclusively staffed by the French association AIDES activists. The VIKIA® HIV½, BioMérieux kit is used (results ≤30 minutes). Men with positive tests are referred to HIV clinical centers for confirmatory HIV blood tests and linkage to care. This project is prospectively evaluated using two self-completed questionnaires: one pre-test assessing demographics, previous HIV-testing history and sexual behavior, and one post-test questionnaire assessing participants satisfaction.
Results: From 02/2009 to 12/2009, 342 MSMs were tested, 21 (6%) of whom were tested twice. The median age was 31 years old [IQR, 25-38]. In the last 6 months, 110 (32%) reported unprotected anal intercourse with a casual partner. Ninety-eight (29%) were never tested in the last two years, among whom 27 (28%) had unprotected anal intercourse. Ten patients were tested positive (3%), all of whom were confirmed to have HIV and linked to care. Among the 328 post-test questionnaires collected, 90% declared to be “very satisfied” by the testing strategy, 76% (243/320 respondents) would “certainly recommend” it to their friends and 52% (163/311 respondents tested negative) would “certainly choose it in the future” to be tested. The main reason for non satisfaction in 31 participants not “very satisfied” (10%) was the time spent for testing program (2 hours including 30-45 minutes for questionnaires).
Conclusions: Community-based HIV rapid testing program in a non-medical setting is feasible. It reaches high-risk MSMs and can increase choice for this population in addition to other testing strategies.