HIV Testing in the United States, 2007

Way back in September of 2006 I posted about the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) call for routine HIV testing, and now we know how (un)successful that effort was, at least through 2007.

The CDC published a report about the percentage of adults aged 18 or older who had been tested for HIV, by age and sex, with the bottom line being that only 36.6% of adults report ever being tested. Women in all age groups report more testing. For both men and women, the percentage of people who had ever been tested was the highest among people aged 35 and 44 and the lowest for people above the age of 65.

The fact that less than 40% of people under 35 have been tested is disconcerting given the fact that we know sexually transmitted infection rates are the highest for people aged 18 to 25, and we know that many people are infected with HIV before they are 35.

We need better marketing for routine HIV testing! Please encourage your patients to have an HIV test done, even if it is at an anonymous testing site so it does not appear in their medical record.