1296. Should HIV Disclosure at ED Based on Preliminary Results?

Abstract

BackgroundIt is recommended that all adults presenting to Emergency Departments (ED) be offered opt out testing for HIV. There is evidence that detection of HIV infection, disclosure of infected status to the patient, and enrollment into HIV care are best accomplished during the ED visit. Any delay results in loss of patients. Among critical variables are capacities to conduct screening and confirmatory testing during the time the patient is a resident in the ED. We report on a facility where HIV screening is performed during ED patient dwell times but confirmatory results follow in ≥24h. The conundrum is whether patients found HIV positive by a screening test should be informed of the positive screening finding before confirmatory results are in hand.MethodsData obtained from a routine opt-out HIV screening program for the interval June 2017 to March 2019 conducted at the ED in Houston, Texas were evaluated. Patients between 18–65 years with Glasgow Score >9 were eligible for testing. HIV fourth-generation ADVIA Centaur™ Ag/Ab COMBO (Siemens) was used for screening. Positives screening tests were followed by Gennius™ HIV1/HIV2 confirmatory test.Results12,040 HIV fourth-generation tests were performed; 232 (1.9%) were positive; the specificity of the screening testing was 98.2%. Twenty-two (9.5%) of screening test positive individuals were found HIV false positive (Ag/Ab positive and Gennius negative). The population had a mean age of 43.8 years (21–64), was predominately female (63.6%) and white (40.9%). Further testing was completed for 14 of the 22 patients with false-positive screening tests. 13 had negative tests for HIV RNA and 1 had a second HIV Ag/Ab test with negative findings. 8 (36.3%) screening test false-positive patients could not be located after their departure from the ED.ConclusionIf patients were disclosed of their HIV-positive status because of the screening test result, approximately 10% of these individuals would have been incorrectly categorized generating significant personal and social disruption while waiting for the confirmatory result.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.