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CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Interventions to Identify HIV-Positive People Through Partner Counseling and Referral Services

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Partner counseling and referral services (PCRS) are part of the spectrum of care for HIV-positive people and their sexual or needle-sharing partners. Referral involves notifying partners of exposure, after which they are (ideally) tested and receive prevention or risk reduction counseling or enter into care (if they test positive).

Methods of PCRS include:
• Provider referral:
-The HIV-positive patient voluntarily discloses information about partners
-Provider or other public health professional notifies partner(s)
• Patient referral:
-The HIV-positive patient notifies partner(s)
• Contact referral:
-The HIV-positive patient voluntarily discloses information about partners
-The patient agrees to notify partners within a certain time period
-If all partners are not contacted and notified, the provider can complete the process

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends provider referral partner notification based on sufficient evidence of effectiveness in increasing HIV testing and identification of previously undiagnosed HIV-positive individuals.

Results / Accomplishments

Results from the Systematic Reviews:
Nine studies assessing provider referral qualified for the review and examined a series of related outcomes.

• Number of partners located and notified: 67% (8 studies)
• Number of notified partners (with unknown HIV status) who were tested: 63% (6 studies)
• Number of tested partners who were HIV-positive: 20% (7 studies)
• There was little difference among the three partner-notification methods evaluated (provider, patient, and contact referral) in terms of the mean number of infected individuals identified (although very few studies tested patient or contact referral).
• Behavioral changes after partner notification:
-There were changes in the direction of safer sexual behavior with HIV partner notification.
-Small number of studies and diversity of comparisons and outcomes precludes firm conclusions.
• Data do not suggest substantial harms to the person who is screened and found to be HIV positive resulting from partner notification services (two studies).
• The studies in this review were conducted among a variety of populations (black and white men and women; gay, bisexual, and straight; intravenous drug users or not), in a variety of settings in the United States (statewide in seven states and locally in several cities), over a 20-year period.

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Source
Community Guide Branch Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Location
USA
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Target Audience
Racial/Ethnic Minorities

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