Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-15-2020
Identifier
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240476; PMCID: PMC7561120
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early infant diagnosis (EID) establishes the presence of HIV infection in HIV-exposed infants and children younger than 18 months of age. EID services are hospital-based, and thus fail to capture HIV-exposed infants who are not brought to the hospital for care. Point-of-care (POC) diagnostic systems deployed in the community could increase the proportion tested and linked to treatment, but little feasibility and acceptability data is available.
METHODS: Semi-structured interviews (n = 74) were conducted by a Kenyan team with community members (Community Health Workers/Volunteers [CHW/CHV], Traditional Birth Attendants [TBAs], community leaders) and parents of HIV-exposed infants at four study sites in Kenya to elicit feedback on the acceptability and feasibility of community-based POC HIV testing.
RESULTS: Participants described existing community health resources that could be leveraged to support integration of community-based POC HIV testing; however, the added demand placed on CHW/CHV could pose a challenge. Participants indicated that other potential barriers (concerns about confidentiality, disclosure, and HIV stigma) could be overcome with strong engagement from trusted community leaders and health providers, community sensitization, and strategic location and timing of testing. These steps were seen to improve acceptability and maximize the recognized benefits (rapid results, improved reach) of community-based testing.
CONCLUSION: Community members felt that with strategic planning and engagement, community-based POC HIV testing could be a feasible and acceptable strategy to overcome the existing barriers of hospital-based EID.
Journal Title
PLoS One
Volume
15
Issue
10
First Page
0240476
Last Page
0240476
MeSH Keywords
Early Diagnosis; Female; HIV; HIV Infections; Health Plan Implementation; Humans; Infant; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Kenya; Male; Parents; Point-of-Care Systems; Point-of-Care Testing; Postnatal Care; Social Support
Keywords
Early Diagnosis; Female; HIV; HIV Infections; Health Plan Implementation; Humans; Infant; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Kenya; Male; Parents; Point-of-Care Systems; Point-of-Care Testing; Postnatal Care; Social Support
Recommended Citation
Macharia LW, Wexler C, Brown M, et al. Implementation planning for community-based point-of-care HIV testing for infants: Recommendations from community leaders in Kenya. PLoS One. 2020;15(10):e0240476. Published 2020 Oct 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240476
Comments
Grant support
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Publisher's Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240476