Sacks and Goodburn discuss increasing HIV-testing in general practice.1 Improved uptake of HIV-testing is important since the Health Protection Agency estimate that 21 000 people are living with undiagnosed HIV in the UK.2 Women attending antenatal clinics are already tested for HIV routinely, but little is known about the feasibility of testing male partners. Following ethical review (Wandsworth Research Ethics Committee Reference: 00167.09) we conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the attitudes of pregnant women to having their partners tested for HIV.
In December 2009, a confidential questionnaire was handed out by a medical student (TS) to consecutive pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at St. George's Hospital, London.
The response rate was 93% (100/108). The mean age of responders was 30 years (range 20–45 years). Fifty-eight per cent of women described their ethnic group as white, 18% as black, 18% as South Asian, and 6% as other ethnic group. Most women (83%) thought it was a good idea for their partner to have a salivary test to check for HIV, while 82% thought it was a good idea to have a blood test. They identified the main benefits of testing their partners: to ensure the safety of the mother and baby, and for peace of mind. They saw less benefit if their partner had recently been tested or the mother had already tested negative. The myth that one partner testing negative means that the other does not need to be tested was identified in our earlier study of male partners who cited the same reason for not testing.3
However, many women wanted to know how HIV-testing could help their baby, and appeared to be unaware of effective treatments to prevent transmission of infection. Increased knowledge about HIV has been shown to be associated with increased test uptake by pregnant women.4 Sacks and Goodburn suggest little pre-test counselling is needed unless a patient is high-risk,1 and most pregnant women in our study were happy for their partner to be tested for HIV. However, GPs and other health professionals could have a crucial role in encouraging uptake of HIV-testing by educating patients about the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of HIV.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the patients and staff at the antenatal clinic at St. George's Hospital, London, SW17.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2010.
