Accuracy and Acceptability of the OraQuickTM HIV Self-Test Kit Among Female Sex Workers and Men Who Have Sex with Men Attending Projet San Francisco in Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

HIV self-testing is the process where a person who wants to know his or her HIV status collects a sample and performs a test him/herself and interprets the test result in private. The overall objectives of this study were assessment of the accuracy of OraQuickTM HIV self-testing procedures used to detect HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies. This Research adopted a cross-sectional study design where participants were recruited voluntarily. The Self-Test Kits were provided to participants after receiving instructions on how to use them and verbal consent was obtained from respondents. A questionnaire was provided to participants to collect relevant information related to the study. The target population of the study was Female Sexual Workers and Men who have sex with Men attending project San Francisco clinic located in Kigali City, Rwanda. The sample size was 275 respondents. Data collected was stored in a database and further analyzed using SPSS. The study findings revealed that 57.5% of respondents were aged 18-29, 60% were male and 85% were single. The accuracy of the OraQuickTM HIV self-test was 99% and acceptability was at 93.6%. The findings revealed that respondents who ever diagnosed and treated for STI were about 8 fold more likely to have high acceptability of OraQuickTM HIV self-test. The OraQuickTM HIV self-test kit was found to be accurate and compare very well with the gold standard HIV kit using blood in laboratory. The use and adaptation of the self-test kit among the citizens of Rwanda is recommendable.