Assessing the Attitude of Tampa Bay Youth toward HIV Self-Testing Kits

• Main Authors: Sherry Zhang, Isabella Lopez, Bernard Washington, Brittney Gaudet, Carina A. Rodriguez, Lisa J. Sanders
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
• Subjects: youth; adolescents; HIV testing; attitude; self-testing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/6/3/111

In adults, data support the utility and acceptance of home HIV testing; however, in youth, particularly in the US, this has not been well studied. In this exploratory study, we surveyed Tampa Bay youth aged 16−27 and attending sexual health clinics between 1 June and 31 June 2018 (<i>n</i> = 133) regarding attitudes and perceptions towards HIV self-testing. While most indicated the clinic over home when asked for preferred testing location, study population and subgroup analysis demonstrated a positive response (agree) to Likert-scale questions regarding the use of home HIV self-testing kits and negative responses (strongly disagree) to “would not use self-testing kit”. There was a significant difference between genders in testing location preference (<i>p</i> = 0.031) for those respondents that specified gender (<i>n</i> = 123), with males more likely to prefer home testing than females. This study suggests an openness of youth towards HIV home testing that could help to expand the number of youth aware of their HIV status.