CDC recommendations for opt-out testing and reactions to unanticipated HIV diagnoses. AIDS Patient Care STDS 2008 Mar;22(3):189-93
Date
02/23/2008Pubmed ID
18290754Pubmed Central ID
PMC2728134DOI
10.1089/apc.2007.0104Scopus ID
2-s2.0-40749113159 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 24 CitationsAbstract
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends testing all health care patients for HIV-regardless of their reported risk behaviors-using an "opt-out" approach in which patients are informed that an HIV test will be conducted unless they explicitly decline to be tested. These new testing procedures will facilitate the identification of persons living with HIV who are unaware of their infection. However, some of these newly diagnosed persons may not previously have considered the possibility that they might have HIV and may be ill-equipped to cope with an HIV diagnosis. The present commentary reviews the potential reactions of persons who receive unanticipated HIV-positive diagnoses and suggests that additional research is needed to better understand these reactions and associated harms.
Author List
Galletly CL, Pinkerton SD, Petroll AEAuthors
Carol L. Galletly JD, PhD Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinAndrew Petroll MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Diagnostic Tests, RoutineHIV Infections
Health Policy
Humans
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Treatment Refusal
Truth Disclosure
United States
