| Literature DB >> 32294318 |
Nicolas Salvadori1,2, Pierrick Adam1,2,3, Jean-Yves Mary4, Luc Decker1,2, Lucie Sabin1,2, Sylvie Chevret4, Surachet Arunothong5, Woottichai Khamduang2, Prapan Luangsook2, Visitsak Suksa-Ardphasu2, Jullapong Achalapong6, Christine Rouzioux7, Wasna Sirirungsi2, Nicole Ngo-Giang-Huong1,2,8, Gonzague Jourdain1,2.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Frequent HIV testing of at-risk individuals is crucial to detect and treat infections early and prevent transmissions. We assessed the effect of reminders on HIV retesting uptake.Entities:
Keywords: appointment; cell phone; reminder; retesting; testing; text messaging
Year: 2020 PMID: 32294318 PMCID: PMC7159062 DOI: 10.1002/jia2.25478
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Int AIDS Soc ISSN: 1758-2652 Impact factor: 5.396
Figure 1CONSORT diagram of the disposition of participants.
Participants' characteristics by arm
| Participants' characteristics | No appointment & no reminder (N = 215) | No appointment but reminder (N = 218) | Appointment & reminder (N = 218) | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 123 (57%) | 120 (55%) | 116 (53%) | 359 (55%) |
| Female | 91 (42%) | 98 (45%) | 99 (45%) | 288 (44%) |
| Male‐to‐female transgender | 1 (<1%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (1%) | 4 (1%) |
| Age <25 years | 124 (58%) | 131 (60%) | 122 (56%) | 377 (58%) |
| Country | ||||
| Thailand | 211 (98%) | 213 (98%) | 214 (98%) | 638 (98%) |
| Myanmar | 4 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 9 (1%) |
| Other | 0 (0%) | 3 (1%) | 1 (<1%) | 4 (1%) |
| Pursued higher education | 131/212 (62%) | 129/214 (60%) | 130/217 (60%) | 390/643 (61%) |
| Man who has ever had sex with men | 57 (27%) | 54 (25%) | 42 (19%) | 153 (24%) |
| Previously tested for HIV | 84/209 (40%) | 79/213 (37%) | 73/215 (34%) | 236/637 (37%) |
| Counselling method received | ||||
| Standard counselling | 89 (41%) | 86 (39%) | 90 (41%) | 265 (41%) |
| Computer‐assisted counselling | 88 (41%) | 93 (43%) | 88 (40%) | 269 (41%) |
| On‐demand counselling | 38 (18%) | 39 (18%) | 40 (18%) | 117 (18%) |
| Agreed timeline for retesting | ||||
| Within less than three months after enrolment visit | 22 (10%) | 25 (11%) | 25 (11%) | 72 (11%) |
| Within three to six months after enrolment visit | 193 (90%) | 193 (89%) | 193 (89%) | 579 (89%) |
| Risks of HIV infection | ||||
| Inconsistent condom use in last three months | 80/209 (38%) | 88/213 (41%) | 93/213 (44%) | 261/635 (41%) |
| ≥2 sexual partners in last three months | 83/208 (40%) | 78/211 (37%) | 75/212 (35%) | 236/631 (37%) |
| Positive syphilis test | 12 (6%) | 5 (2%) | 6 (3%) | 23 (4%) |
| STI symptoms | 8/207 (4%) | 7/205 (3%) | 9/207 (4%) | 24/619 (4%) |
| Ever had an STI | 30/208 (14%) | 17/214 (8%) | 22/212 (10%) | 69/634 (11%) |
| Ever received benefits in exchange of sex | 9/208 (4%) | 6/210 (3%) | 15/207 (7%) | 30/625 (5%) |
| Ever provided benefits in exchange of sex | 14/209 (7%) | 18/210 (9%) | 15/211 (7%) | 47/630 (7%) |
| Ever had sex outdoors | 30/211 (14%) | 29/212 (14%) | 23/211 (11%) | 82/634 (13%) |
| Ever injected drugs | 6/214 (3%) | 5/215 (2%) | 8/216 (4%) | 19/645 (3%) |
Figure 2Participants retested for HIV within (a) seven months (b) twelve months by arm. “No Appointment & No Reminder”: clients encouraged to present for HIV retesting within three to six months or even within less than three months if the perceived risk was high, then no further contact made; “No Appointment but Reminder”: short message service (SMS) sent 24 weeks after the enrolment visit to remind booking an appointment, and sent again one week later if no appointment was booked; “Appointment & Reminder”: appointment scheduled during the enrolment visit and SMS sent one week before appointment to ask for confirmation; if no response: single call made within one business day. Bars represent 95% confidence intervals calculated using the Clopper–Pearson method. The overall two‐sided type I error for the final analysis was set to 0.049 for pairwise comparisons between the control arm and each experimental arm, that is, 0.0248 per comparison using Sidak correction. p‐values were derived from two‐sided Fisher’s exact tests. In a post hoc analysis, the p‐value for the comparison between the two experimental arms was <0.001 (a) 0.002 (b).
Details of mean costs per participant for each reminder strategy from a societal perspective, in USD
| Mean costs per participant | No appointment & no reminder (N = 215) | No appointment but reminder (N = 218) | Appointment & reminder (N = 218) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costs borne by participants | USD 0.09 | USD 0.10 | USD 0.19 |
| Time spent | USD 0.03 | USD 0.03 | USD 0.17 |
| Phone calls made | USD 0.06 | USD 0.07 | USD 0.01 |
| SMS sent | None | None | USD 0.01 |
| Counsellor‐related costs | None | None | USD 0.35 |
| Time spent | None | None | USD 0.35 |
| Hotline staff related costs | USD 0.06 | USD 0.12 | USD 0.30 |
| Time spent | USD 0.06 | USD 0.08 | USD 0.17 |
| Phone calls made | None | None | USD 0.08 |
| SMS sent | None | USD 0.04 | USD 0.05 |
| Total mean cost per participant | USD 0.15 | USD 0.22 | USD 0.84 |
All costs were adjusted for the consumer price index as of 2015 and converted from THB to USD at the yearly average exchange rate for 2015 (THB 1 = USD 0.02919). SMS, short message service; USD, United States dollars.
Cost of time spent by participants was estimated based on actual time spent with study staff and on the monthly income that they reported in the self‐administered questionnaire or, if null or missing, on an imputed monthly income corresponding to the minimum wage in Chiang Mai (USD 280.22);
Cost of time spent by counsellors and hotline staff was estimated based on actual time spent with participants and on their monthly income.