Prenatal HIV counseling and testing in California: women's experiences and providers' practices. |
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Authors: | Juan D Ruiz Fred Molitor Erica Prussing Laura Peck Paola Grasso |
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Institution: | California Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS, Sacramento 94234-7320, USA. jruiz1@dhs.ca.gov |
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Abstract: | Two concurrent surveys were conducted in four California counties to compare the prenatal HIV counseling and voluntary testing (C&VT) experiences of women with the self-reported practices of prenatal care providers. Participants were 850 women currently or recently receiving prenatal care and 254 providers. Although 79.9% of women reported being offered an HIV test during a prenatal visit, only 56.2% said they were told about the risks and benefits of taking an HIV test. Almost all providers (98.4%) indicated they offer an HIV test, and 76.8% reported offering counseling, to every patient. One third of the women (65.9%) knew that treatment exists for reducing the chance of prenatal transmission of HIV, and 78.7% of women said they were more likely to be tested given knowledge of such therapy. Women may have underreported prenatal C&VT because providers spend insufficient time discussing related issues or because C&VT information is not presented in a way that is relevant to all patients. |
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