1. Routine HIV Screening is Recommended for Patients Age 13-64 in All Health-Care Settings
Key Points
- HIV screening should not be contingent on an assessment of patients' behavioral risk
- More patients accept HIV testing when it is offered routinely, without a risk assessment
- Early diagnosis of HIV has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality
- Patients aware of their HIV infection substantially reduce behaviors that put them at risk of transmitting HIV
- HIV screening is cost-effective even in health-care setting with low HIV prevalence
2. In low prevalence areas, screening can be discontinued if <1 positive test per 1,000 patients screened
Key Points
- Health-care providers should initate screening unless prevalence of undiagnosed HIV infection in their patients has been documented to be <0.1%.
- In the absence of existing data for HIV prevalence, health-care providers should initiate voluntary HIV screening until they establish that the diagnostic yield is <1 per 1,000 patients screened.
Clinician Educator Tools
Guidelines
ACP Guidelines: Screening for HIV in Health Care Settings (2009)
CDC Guidelines: Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents and Pregnant Women in Helth Care Settings (2006)
Summary of the CDC Recommendations (2011)
Webcasts
Summary of CDC Recommendarions (Audio)
Facts Sheets for Special Populations:
Adolescents (CDC Fact Sheet)
Elderly (The Body, Summary)
African Americans (CDC Fact Sheet)
Hispanics and Latinos (CDC Fact Sheet)