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Results of a Social Network Testing Intervention for HIV in Infectious Disease Clinics

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Abstract

Social networks can be leveraged to identify undiagnosed HIV-infected individuals. The NC-LINK clinic-based testing initiative utilized these networks to achieve a 5% (95% CI 1.1–8.9%) positivity rate by providing free HIV testing to anyone who accompanied an HIV-infected patient to their clinic appointment. During 2013–2015, 120 individuals were tested at two clinics (N > 1000 patients each) in North Carolina, with 5 new and 6 total positive results. Of these, three linked to care within 30 days and all within 365 days. If expanded further, this initiative could significantly increase the number of HIV-infected individuals aware of their status.

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Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Systems Linkages for Access to Care Initiative (H97HA22695) and support did not include nongovernmental sources. This information, content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. None of the authors have conflicts of interest to report. This study was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Review Boards of the participating institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 103 Wild Turkey Trail, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516-9041, USA

    Anna LeViere, Lynne Sampson, Cynthia L. Gay & Evelyn Byrd Quinlivan

  2. NC Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Branch, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Jenna Donovan & Lynne Sampson

  3. Center for AIDS Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Cynthia L. Gay & Evelyn Byrd Quinlivan

  4. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Section on Infectious Disease, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Aimee Wilkin & Jennifer Keller

  5. Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Heather Parnell

Authors
  1. Anna LeViere
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  2. Jenna Donovan
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  3. Aimee Wilkin
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  4. Jennifer Keller
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  5. Heather Parnell
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  6. Lynne Sampson
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  7. Cynthia L. Gay
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  8. Evelyn Byrd Quinlivan
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Contributions

All authors have contributed to the manuscript work, analysis, writing or editing and accept responsibility for publication. The authors also acknowledge the clinic staff, providers, and patients for their invaluable contributions to this research.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evelyn Byrd Quinlivan.

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None of the authors have conflicts of interest to report.

Research Involving Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Research Involving Human Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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LeViere, A., Donovan, J., Wilkin, A. et al. Results of a Social Network Testing Intervention for HIV in Infectious Disease Clinics. AIDS Behav 23 (Suppl 1), 48–51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2178-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2178-2

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