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Voluntary Screening for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection
Weighing the Benefits and Harms
- Lo Bernard, MD;
- Robert L. Steinbrook, MD;
- Molly Cooke, MD;
- Thomas J. Coates, PhD;
- Eleanor J. Walters, MPH; and
- Stephen B. Hulley, MD, MPH
Excerpt
Voluntary screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection may help prevent the spread of the HIV epidemic if persons who test positive alter behaviors that may transmit infection. Protecting persons from unknowingly being exposed to HIV infection must be balanced against respecting the autonomy of individuals being screened. Seropositive patients may feel a stigma and be subject to discrimination if confidentiality of test results is breached. In patients without high-risk behaviors, the positive predictive value of HIV testing may be substantially increased if tests are done in reference laboratories and if further confirmatory tests are run on a second blood
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
Article and Author Information
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From the University of California at San Francisco, and San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California; and the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California. For current author addresses, see end of text.
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Grant Support: Supported in part by Center Grant MH42459 from the National Institutes of Mental Health and Drug Abuse.
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Requests for Reprints: Bernard Lo, MD, Room A405, Box 0320, 400 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0320.
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Current Author Addresses: Drs. Lo and Coates, and Ms. Walters: San Francisco, CA 94143-0320.
Dr. Steinbrook: Editorial Department, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA 90053.
Dr. Cooke: San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA 94110.
Dr. Hulley: Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105.
- ©1989 American College of Physicians
