ReviewHIV/AIDS (Auckland, N.Z.)2014
Arguments for and against HIV self-testing.
Review in HIV/AIDS (Auckland, N.Z.), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Acceptability and use of HIV self-testing among young people in sub-Saharan Africa: a mixed methods systematic review.BMC primary care · 2024Pooled it
- Men's perspectives on HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.BMC public health · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Barriers and facilitators to facility HIV self-testing in outpatient settings in Malawi: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Participatory Design of a Web-Based HIV Oral Self-Testing Infographic Experiment (HOTIE) for Emerging Adult Sexual Minority Men of Color: A Mixed Methods Randomized Control Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Few Aggressive or Violent Incidents are Associated with the Use of HIV Self-tests to Screen Sexual Partners Among Key Populations.AIDS and behavior · 2020Trial
- Effect of Internet-Distributed HIV Self-tests on HIV Diagnosis and Behavioral Outcomes in Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2020Trial
- Effects of a Mobile Health Intervention to Promote HIV Self-testing with MSM in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2019Trial
- Community based distribution of oral HIV self-testing kits in Zambia: a cluster-randomised trial nested in four HPTN 071 (PopART) intervention communities.The lancet. HIV · 2019Trial
- HIV Self-Testing Increases HIV Testing Frequency in High-Risk Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2018Trial
- 'I Know that I Do Have HIV but Nobody Saw Me': Oral HIV Self-Testing in an Informal Settlement in South Africa.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Detailed HIV Self-Testing Patterns Derived from Paradata in the mLab App Clinical Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Multilevel Determinants of HIV Prevention Among Urban Refugee Youth in Uganda: Baseline Findings from the Tushirikiane-4-Uthabiti Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- HIV diagnostic implementation in the Dominican Republic: an in-depth qualitative context analysis for health technology developers.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Application of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Theory to Explore HIV Self-Testing Behavior Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Southwest China.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Exploring HIV self-testing as an early detection strategy among female sex workers in Waliso town, Ethiopia: a community based cross sectional study.AIDS research and therapy · 2025Article
- Stakeholder considerations on acceptability and implementation of a novel rapid test for acute HIV infection: A qualitative study in Indiana.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Perceptions, acceptability, and utilization of HIV self-testing kits among young people in urban slums in Kampala.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Changes in Sexual Risk-taking Behaviours Among Men After Participating in the PEST4MEN HIV Self-Testing Intervention in Two Fishing Communities in Central Uganda.The East African health research journal · 2025Article
- Implementation fidelity and client satisfaction in HIV testing and counseling services: perspectives from facilities and clients in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Approximately 60% of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are unaware of their infection, and stigma and discrimination continue to threaten acceptance of HIV testing services worldwide. Self-testing for HIV has garnered controversy for years and the debate reignited with the approval of a point-of-care test for over-the-counter sale in the US in 2012. Here, we present arguments for and against HIV self-testing. The case in support of HIV self-testing contends that: the modality is highly acceptable, especially among the most at-risk individuals; self-testing empowers users, thus helping to normalize testing; and mutual partner testing has the potential to increase awareness of risk and avert condomless sex between discordant partners. Arguments against HIV self-testing include: cost limits access to those who need testing most; false-negative results, especially during the window period, may lead to false reassurance and could promote sex between discordant partners at the time of highest infectivity; opportunities for counseling, linkage to care, and diagnosis of other sexually transmitted infections may be missed; and self-testing leads to potential for coercion between partners. Research is needed to better define the risks of self-testing, especially as performance of the assays improves, and to delineate the benefits of programs designed to improve access to self-test kits, because this testing modality has numerous potential advantages and drawbacks.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.