HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.141069v1 99/6/1087    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wing, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wing, C. Related Collections Health Policy HIV/AIDS Public Health Practice Sexual Health Other Statistics/Evaluation/Research

Coady Wing, MA, BPAPM

Coady Wing is a PhD student at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, and with the Center for Policy Research, Syracuse University, Syracuse.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Coady Wing, Center for Policy Research, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1020 (e-mail: cwing{at}maxwell.syr.edu).

Objectives. I evaluated the effects of written informed consent requirements on HIV testing rates in New York State to determine whether such consent creates barriers that discourage HIV testing.

Methods. New York streamlined its HIV testing consent procedures on June 1, 2005. If written informed consent creates barriers to HIV testing, then New York's streamlining exercise should have reduced such barriers and increased HIV testing rates. I used logistic regression to estimate the effects of New York's policy change.

Results. New York's streamlined consent procedures led to a 31.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 20.9%, 41.9%) increase in the state's HIV testing rate. In absolute terms, 7% of the state's population had been tested for HIV in the preceding 6 months under the streamlined procedures, whereas only 5.3% would have been tested under the original procedures. These estimates imply that the streamlined consent procedures accounted for approximately 328 000 additional HIV tests in the 6 months after the policy change.

Conclusions. Written informed consent requirements are a substantial barrier to HIV testing in the United States.There may be a trade-off between efforts to increase HIV testing rates and efforts to improve patient awareness.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. M. Zetola, J. D. Klausner, and M. H. Katz SIMPLIFYING CONSENT INCREASES HIV TESTING AND NEW CASE DETECTION: THE SAN FRANCISCO EXPERIENCE Am J Public Health, November 1, 2009; 99(11): 1924 - 1924. [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Wing WING RESPONDS Am J Public Health, November 1, 2009; 99(11): 1924 - 1925. [Full Text] [PDF]