Assessing Gaps in Integrated HIV and STI Testing Among New York State-Funded Providers by Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Status: Implications for Status-Neutral Programming.

Abstract

Background: In the United States, up to 75% of primary care patients go untested for HIV each year, and nearly two-thirds of adults report never having been tested for HIV. Integrated HIV and STI testing, combining these tests into a single visit, is recommended as a status neutral approach to prevention.

Setting: Over 200 New York State Department of Health-funded primary care clinics, hospitals, health centers and community-based organizations funded to conduct integrated screening.

Methods: We analyzed weekly testing data from December 2022 to January 2024 to prospectively evaluate whether integrated HIV and STI testing events and results occurred within 30 days of each other. We also assessed group differences in integrated testing by sex at birth, gender, race/ethnicity, risk, organization type, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) status using Pearson's Chi-square tests and calculated prevalence ratios using log binomial models stratified be PrEP usage. Analyses were restricted to individuals with an HIV-negative status.

Results: Integrated testing was completed for 69% for individuals on PrEP and 39% for those not taking PrEP, with significant differences observed across all client-specific categories at p < 0.001. Except for age group, variations in integrated screening levels by client characteristics were similar by PrEP status. Individuals who identified as female at birth, as non-Hispanic Black, without an elevated risk, and those tested in non-hospital settings were significantly less likely to experience integrated screening. HIV-test reactivity was 0.04% among integrated testers and 0.15% for HIV-only testers. STI-test reactivity was 4.9% among integrated testers and 7.8% for STI-only testers.

Conclusions: A significant gap was identified in integrated testing among providers specifically funded to perform it, resulting in missed opportunities for identification of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Integrating HIV and STI testing at a systems level will require significant changes to the perceived individual- and provider-level risks and benefits associated with testing.