AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded a recent San Francisco study which documented a significant increase in HIV testing rates among high-risk groups who have not had to undergo written consent for the procedure, a study finding which supports a change in testing protocol that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) first recommended in its revised 2006 guidelines for HIV testing, but a change that has not been widely adopted nationwide.
As part of the study, which was first published July 2nd online on PloS One (Public Library of Science), the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center eliminated required written patient consent for HIV testing in its medical settings in May 2006. According to the results of the study, which compared data with previous archival testing data utilizing "…an observational study using interrupted time series analysis." Among the findings: