HIV testing and counseling in substance abuse treatment centers.

HIV testing is changing, as new technology allows testing with results in 20 minutes and studies show much transmission is by people unaware they have HIV. The CDC now recommends more testing and less counseling at the time of testing. This presentation served as an introduction to a session at the conference focused on a multicenter study being conducted in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN), protocol CTN-0032. The aim of 0032 is to evaluate a more effective HIV testing strategy designed to increase receipt of HIV test results and decrease HIV sexual risk behaviors. Study participants were 1281 drug treatment clients enrolled at 12 community treatment programs who reported not being HIV positive and not recently receiving test results. Sites launched in early 2009 and outcomes are pending.

Additional presentations in this conference session addressed participants’ baseline HIV and HCV status and testing history, levels of hepatitis C awareness and risky injection behaviors, and how one community treatment program integrated HIV testing into routine clinic services (see Metsch et al, 2010; Korthuis et al, 2010; and Haynes et al, 2010).

Related protocols: CTN-0032