A new report from the CDC details how testing for HIV and care for the disease among at-risk populations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes that self-testing may be a workable solution.
According to the CDC’s most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, publicly funded HIV self-test kits distributed directly to potential consumers may help to overcome testing-related hurdles and facilitate access to HIV-related care services.
The report out this week highlights how as recently as 2019, a disproportionate 80% of HIV transmission was the result of persons not knowing their serostatus or individuals falling out of regular care, despite the CDC’s 2006 recommendation of yearly testing among at-risk populations—one of which is men who have sex with men (MSM).
A potential solution is self-testing, and coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TakeMeHome partnership aimed to reach those seeking home-care options for reasons that included lack of access to clinic testing and stay-at-home orders that restricted traditional testing services.
“The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HIV testing services, persons reported not being able to access HIV testing services, and hundreds of thousands of HIV screening tests were either delayed or skipped,” the report notes.
For the March 31, 2020, through March 31, 2021, period, 17 state and local health departments participated by first reaching out to gay, bisexual, and other MSM through gay dating apps and offering no-cost rapid HIV self-tests and following up with a survey 10 days after the self-test kits were mailed. Thirty-six percent of participants noted they had never tested for HIV and 56% said their most recent test was more than a year prior.
A total of 5325 kits were mailed to 4904 persons—67% self-identified as cisgender men and 6%, transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer—in this first year of TakeMeHome, and 17% responded to the follow-up survey. Most were aged 25 to 34 years (39%) or 18 to 24 years (30%), were of White (38%) or Hispanic/Latino (26%) ethnicity, and had 1 (34%) or at least 3 (26%) sexual partners in the past year.
Analysis of the follow-up survey data also revealed the following:
Results were also positive for those reporting they had never gotten tested for HIV: 8% accessed testing for other STIs and 6% accessed PrEP.
TakeMeHome has since expanded nationwide and to Puerto Rico, with more than 43,000 orders encompassing over 76,000 HIV self-test kits from February through July 2021 alone.
“HIV self-testing is a proven intervention that represents a paradigm shift in testing practices and is a key strategy to support the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States initiative,” the report concludes. “HIV self-test distribution addresses many privacy concerns, and this program demonstrated, among the subset who provided follow-up data, that self-testing served as a bridge to additional HIV and STI prevention services for persons who needed them.”
To continue making progress in this space, the authors wrote, future marketing needs to target minority groups disproportionately affected by HIV and increase engagement with health departments in areas with greater numbers of disproportionately affected populations.
Reference
Hecht J, Sanchez T, Sullivan PS, DiNenno EA, Cramer N, Delaney KP. Increasing access to HIV testing through direct-to-consumer HIV self-test distribution—United States, March 31, 2020–March 30, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70(38):1322-1325. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7038a2
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Poor Well-Being Scores Linked to Early Treatment Stoppage in Multiple Myeloma
March 27th 2024Investigators used the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General General Physical Wellbeing Scale to collect data on patient-reported treatment-related adverse effects, to provide clinicians guidance on predicting risk of early treatment discontinuation among ECOG-ACRIN E1A11 trial participants.
Read More
Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
Listen
The Pivotal Role of Payers in Improving Health Equity, Maternal Health Care in the US
March 26th 2024A presentation at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health's 2024 Women’s Health Summit discussed how payers, including employers and public entities, can strategically influence health care purchasing to prioritize maternal health and equity.
Read More
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Poor Well-Being Scores Linked to Early Treatment Stoppage in Multiple Myeloma
March 27th 2024Investigators used the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General General Physical Wellbeing Scale to collect data on patient-reported treatment-related adverse effects, to provide clinicians guidance on predicting risk of early treatment discontinuation among ECOG-ACRIN E1A11 trial participants.
Read More
Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
Listen
The Pivotal Role of Payers in Improving Health Equity, Maternal Health Care in the US
March 26th 2024A presentation at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health's 2024 Women’s Health Summit discussed how payers, including employers and public entities, can strategically influence health care purchasing to prioritize maternal health and equity.
Read More
2 Commerce Drive
Cranbury, NJ 08512