Two Approaches to Routine HIV Testing in a Hospital Emergency Department

Optimizing Strategies for Universal HIV Testing (The USHER Trial)

This study will compare the effectiveness of two different approaches to providing routine HIV counseling, testing, and referral services in an urban hospital emergency department setting.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HIV Infections
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Counselor-based HIV screening; Behavioral: Emergency staff member-based HIV screening

Detailed Description

About 25% of HIV infected people do not know that they are infected. These people lack medical care that could prolong their lives and access to counseling services that could prevent further spread of HIV. With so many people unaware of their HIV status, there is a clear need for more readily available HIV counseling, testing, and referral services throughout the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine HIV testing in U.S. hospitals in which HIV infected patients make up at least 1% of the total patient population for that hospital. However, routine HIV testing in such hospitals is rarely carried out, which might be because the CDC has not specified who should perform routine HIV testing. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two different approaches to providing routine HIV counseling, testing, and referral services in an urban hospital emergency department setting. One approach will be led by an HIV counselor, and the other approach will be led by an emergency department staff member. For both approaches, the study will evaluate to what extent patients accept HIV testing, how well follow-up care is established, and the cost-effectiveness of the approach.

Participants in this study will include adults who visit Brigham and Women's Hospital emergency department in Boston, Massachusetts. Participants will be randomly assigned to a counselor versus provider and will be asked to fill out a questionnaire while waiting in the emergency room. The questionnaire will be anonymous. Participants will then be offered an oral rapid HIV test. Test results will be available in about 20 minutes and will be provided to participants by either their assigned HIV counselor. Participants who test positive for HIV will be offered a more definitive blood test to confirm HIV infection. The blood test results will be available 2 weeks from testing, and participants must return to the hospital to get their test results. Participants who test positive for HIV will be offered counseling support and referral services by either their assigned HIV counselor or emergency department staff member. Follow-up care appointments will also be initiated at this time. For participants who test positive for HIV, the study will last about 6 months. There will be no follow-up visits for participants who do not test positive for HIV during their emergency room visit.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 4855
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
      • Brigham and Women's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Waiting to receive care in the Brigham and Women's Hospital emergency room
• English- or Spanish-speaking
• Enters the emergency room when an HIV counselor is available

Exclusion Criteria:

• An estimated severity index score of 1 or 2 who have mechanical ventilation or are not deemed alert, awake, and oriented to person, place and time by the triage nurse
• HIV infected

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Screening
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Counselor-based HIV screening	Behavioral: Counselor-based HIV screening; Participants will undergo oral HIV screening by HIV counselor and, if positive, further study visits for up to 6 months
Active Comparator: Emergency staff member-based HIV screening	Behavioral: Emergency staff member-based HIV screening; Participants will undergo oral HIV screening by emergency staff member and, if positive, further study visits for up to 6 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Linkage to Care of Newly Diagnosed HIV Infected Participants	We define linkage to care as attendance at a first HIV clinic appointment where the following 3 events occur: 1) introduction to an HIV care primary provider; 2) receipt of confirmatory Western Blot HIV test results; and 3) phlebotomy for CD4 cell count and HIV RNA level.	Assessed within 8 weeks after receipt of reactive rapid HIV test results

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Rapid HIV Testing Rate	We defined the overall rapid HIV testing rate as the number of participants tested for HIV using the rapid test among those randomized to potentially be tested in each arm.	Assess on day subject enrolled into the study

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Test Offer Rate	The offer rate of the HIV test was defined as the proportion of enrolled study participants who were actually offered a test.	Assess on day subject enrolled into the study
Test Acceptance Rate	Acceptance of the HIV test was defined as the proportion of study participants who received the HIV test among those offered the test.	Assess on day subject enrolled into the study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ganguli I, Collins JE, Reichmann WM, Losina E, Katz JN, Arbelaez C, Donnell-Fink LA, Walensky RP. Missed opportunities: refusal to confirm reactive rapid HIV tests in the emergency department. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53408. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053408. Epub 2013 Jan 8.
• Millen JC, Arbelaez C, Walensky RP. Implications and impact of the new US Centers for Disease Control and prevention HIV testing guidelines. Curr Infect Dis Rep. 2008 May;10(2):157-63. doi: 10.1007/s11908-008-0027-6.
• Walensky RP, Freedberg KA, Weinstein MC, Paltiel AD. Cost-effectiveness of HIV testing and treatment in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2007 Dec 15;45 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):S248-54. doi: 10.1086/522546.
• Ganguli I, Bassett IV, Dong KL, Walensky RP. Home testing for HIV infection in resource-limited settings. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2009 Nov;6(4):217-23. doi: 10.1007/s11904-009-0029-5.
• Reichmann WM, Losina E, Seage GR, Arbelaez C, Safren SA, Katz JN, Hetland A, Walensky RP. Does modality of survey administration impact data quality: audio computer assisted self interview (ACASI) versus self-administered pen and paper? PLoS One. 2010 Jan 15;5(1):e8728. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008728.
• Donnell-Fink L, Reichmann WM, Arbelaez C, Case AL, Katz JN, Losina E, Walensky RP. Patient satisfaction with rapid HIV testing in the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med. 2011 Jul;58(1 Suppl 1):S49-52. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.03.024.
• Reichmann WM, Walensky RP, Case A, Novais A, Arbelaez C, Katz JN, Losina E. Estimation of the prevalence of undiagnosed and diagnosed HIV in an urban emergency department. PLoS One. 2011;6(11):e27701. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027701. Epub 2011 Nov 16.
• Pisculli ML, Reichmann WM, Losina E, Donnell-Fink LA, Arbelaez C, Katz JN, Walensky RP. Factors associated with refusal of rapid HIV testing in an emergency department. AIDS Behav. 2011 May;15(4):734-42. doi: 10.1007/s10461-010-9837-2.
• Walensky RP, Arbelaez C, Reichmann WM, Walls RM, Katz JN, Block BL, Dooley M, Hetland A, Kimmel S, Solomon JD, Losina E. Revising expectations from rapid HIV tests in the emergency department. Ann Intern Med. 2008 Aug 5;149(3):153-60. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-149-3-200808050-00003.
• Arbelaez C, Block B, Losina E, Wright EA, Reichmann WM, Mikulinsky R, Solomon JD, Dooley MM, Walensky RP. Rapid HIV testing program implementation: lessons from the emergency department. Int J Emerg Med. 2009 Sep 1;2(3):187-94. doi: 10.1007/s12245-009-0123-x.
• Arbelaez C, Wright EA, Losina E, Millen JC, Kimmel S, Dooley M, Reichmann WM, Mikulinsky R, Walensky RP. Emergency provider attitudes and barriers to universal HIV testing in the emergency department. J Emerg Med. 2012 Jan;42(1):7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2009.07.038. Epub 2009 Oct 14.
• Walensky RP, Morris BL, Reichmann WM, Paltiel AD, Arbelaez C, Donnell-Fink L, Katz JN, Losina E. Resource utilization and cost-effectiveness of counselor- vs. provider-based rapid point-of-care HIV screening in the emergency department. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e25575. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025575. Epub 2011 Oct 12.
• Walensky RP, Reichmann WM, Arbelaez C, Wright E, Katz JN, Seage GR 3rd, Safren SA, Hare AQ, Novais A, Losina E. Counselor- versus provider-based HIV screening in the emergency department: results from the universal screening for HIV infection in the emergency room (USHER) randomized controlled trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2011 Jul;58(1 Suppl 1):S126-32.e1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.03.023.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2007
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2007
• First Posted (Estimate): July 18, 2007

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 19, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2012
• Last Verified: July 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: HIV Seronegativity; HIV; Testing
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases; HIV Infections
• Other Study ID Numbers: R01MH073445 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); DAHBR 9A-ASPQ (NIMH)