The COBATEST network: monitoring and evaluation of HIV community-based practices in Europe, 2014-2016.
HIV Med 2019;
19 Suppl 1:21-26. [PMID:
29488701 DOI:
10.1111/hiv.12592]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to describe the data collected by the CBVCT services from the Community-based testing (COBATEST) network, from 2014 to 2016, in order to provide an insight into community-based voluntary counselling and testing (CBVCT) services' testing activity in Europe.
METHODS
A descriptive analysis of HIV testing activity in CBVCT services that are using the COBATEST tools was performed for the period 2014-2016.
RESULTS
During the study period, a total of 30 329 HIV tests were performed on 27 934 individuals, of which 1.8% were reactive. Of these reactive tests, 75.8% had a confirmatory test, 92.2% of those were confirmed as positive, and 90.38% of the confirmed positives were linked to care. The total number of tests performed over the study period increased 19.31%. The proportion of confirmatory tests increased from 63.0% to 90.0% and proportion linked to care increased from 84.1% to 93.8%. Most of the tested individuals were men (70.6%), aged between 21 and 35 years (58.5%) and non-foreign born (68.1%). A high proportion of individuals tested were men who have sex with men (MSM; 42.2%). The percentage of reactive screening tests was particularly high among transgender people (8.37%) and among male sex workers (6.38%). Repeat testers had a higher percentage of reactive tests (2.02%) than those tested for first time (1.1%).
CONCLUSIONS
These results prove the feasibility of collecting standardized data from CBVCT services in different countries across Europe and demonstrate the usefulness of such data.
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