Fogel JM, Sandfort T, Zhang Y, Guo X, Clarke W, Breaud A, Cummings V, Hamilton EL, Ogendo A, Kayange N, Panchia R, Dominguez K, Chen YQ, Eshleman SH. Accuracy of Self-Reported HIV Status Among African Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex with Men Who were Screened for Participation in a Research Study: HPTN 075. AIDS Behav. 2019, 23: 289-294. PMC6344310
Abstract:
Some HIV-infected individuals in research studies may choose not to disclose knowledge of their HIV status to study staff. We evaluated the accuracy of self-reported HIV status among African men and transgender women who have sex with men and who were screened for a research study. Sixty-seven of 183 HIV-infected participants reported a prior HIV diagnosis. Samples from the remaining 116 participants were tested for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Thirty-six of the 116 participants had ARV drugs detected, indicating that they were on antiretroviral treatment; these participants were classified as previously diagnosed based on ARV drug testing. Among participants classified as previously diagnosed, disclosure of a prior HIV diagnosis varied among study sites (p = 0.006) and was more common among those who reported having sex with men only (p = 0.002). ARV drug testing in addition to self-report improves the accuracy for identifying individuals with a prior HIV diagnosis.