HIV Retesting Among People Living With HIV in Lesotho in 2022.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  International Journal of STD & AIDS, 2025, v. 36, no. 2: HIV Retesting Among People Living With HIV in Lesotho in 2022.
• Journal Article:
  International Journal of STD & AIDS
• Personal Author:
  Pogue, Spencer D ; Saito, Suzue ; Tlhomola, Mphotleng ; West, Christine A ; Asiimwe, Fred ; Ramphalla, Puleng ; Poirot, Eugenie ; Steiner, Claire ; Greenleaf, Abigail R
• Description:
  Despite widespread HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa, regular testing among at-risk populations is crucial for effective prevention. However, reports increasingly indicate retesting among people living with HIV (PLHIV), a group that would not require additional testing since they would already have received a confirmed diagnosis. We describe the demographic characteristics of PLHIV retesters in Lesotho, report the average number of HIV tests post-diagnosis among PLHIV, and share motivations for retesting.
  
  In August 2022, a nationally representative cohort in Lesotho participated in a cell phone survey about their HIV status and testing history. Study participants were recruited from a face-to-face survey conducted in 2020, Lesotho Population Based HIV Impact Assessment survey.
  
  Of the 1523 participants called, 1111 participants responded (72.9%) and 266 reported living with HIV. We found 18.8% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) reported retesting at least once for HIV, and 58% of PLHIV who reported retesting were likely or very likely to retest for HIV in the coming year. The main reason PLHIV reported retesting was because a health care worker offered the test (61.7%) followed by self-initiated testing to confirm their status (29.1%). Among male PLHIV who had a history of retesting, 92.0% were very likely or likely to retest, compared to only 30.6% of female PLHIV.
  
  We found almost a fifth of PLHIV in Lesotho reported a history of retesting for HIV, and 58% of PLHIV were likely or very likely to retest for HIV in the coming year. Educating providers and men living with HIV could reduce retesting among PLHIV.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • Male
  • HIV Infections
  • Female
  • Adult
  • Middle Aged
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • HIV Testing
  • Mass Screening
  • Young Adult
  More +
• Keywords:
  • HIV
  • testing
  • sub-Saharan Africa
  • cell phone survey
  • surveillance
  • Lesotho
• Source:
  International Journal of STD & AIDS, 2025, v. 36, no. 2
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1177/09564624241289984
• ISSN:
  0956-4624 ; 1758-1052
• Pubmed ID:
  39434648
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11844745
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  K01 HD108636/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; L60 TW012707/TW/FIC NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 GH002171/GH/CGH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Lesotho
• Pages in Document:
  114-118 (9 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/261963/cdc_261963_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 72.57 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fa6318cd7ae24531d8d80eced880e43fc49a576cc963d63e4902975bdeb164d57bff2e79ca4d44c35eb19a739b052f2d3f8d5d65103f1bcca8b485be593fa9ca