ArticleJournal of the International AIDS Society2014
"Men are always scared to test with their partners … it is like taking them to the Police": Motivations for and barriers to couples' HIV counselling and testing in Rakai, Uganda: a qualitative study.
Article in Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence for community-based HIV testing on men's engagement in the HIV care cascade.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Barbershop-Based HIV Prevention Among Heterosexual Men in Kalangala Islands, Uganda: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Trial (HPTN 111).JMIR research protocols · 2026Trial
- Social Influence and Uptake of Couples HIV Testing and Counselling in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.AIDS and behavior · 2022Trial
- Results of a Couples-Based Randomized Controlled Trial Aimed to Increase Testing for HIV.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2019Trial
- Brief Report: "Give Me Some Time": Facilitators of and Barriers to Uptake of Home-Based HIV Testing During Household Contact Investigation for Tuberculosis in Kampala, Uganda.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2018Trial
- Effect of non-monetary incentives on uptake of couples' counselling and testing among clients attending mobile HIV services in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.The Lancet. Global health · 2017Trial
- Evaluation of a demand-creation intervention for couples' HIV testing services among married or cohabiting individuals in Rakai, Uganda: a cluster-randomized intervention trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2016Trial
- Article
- Leading with HOPE: A Clinical Communication Campaign to Promote Partner HIV Testing in Assisted Partner Notification and Antenatal Care Programs in Uganda.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Self-Testing for Men of Middle-to-Upper Socioeconomic Status in Botswana: A Pilot Study at 4 Worksites in the Financial Sector.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Using fatherhood to engage men in HIV services via maternal, neonatal and child health entry points in South Africa.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Two strategies for partner notification and partner HIV self-testing reveal no evident predictors of male partner HIV testing in antenatal settings: A secondary analysis.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2023Article
- Secondary distribution of HIV self-test kits from males to their female sexual partners in two fishing communities in rural Uganda.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- HIV self-testing may overcome stigma and other barriers to HIV testing among higher-socioeconomic status men in Botswana: A qualitative study.African journal of AIDS research : AJAR · 2021Article
- Socio-cultural and economic barriers, and facilitators influencing men's involvement in antenatal care including HIV testing: a qualitative study from urban Blantyre, Malawi.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Challenges of HIV Self-Test Distribution for Index Testing When HIV Status Disclosure Is Low: Preliminary Results of a Qualitative Study in Bamako (Mali) as Part of the ATLAS Project.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Enthusiasm for Introducing and Integrating HIV Self-Testing but Doubts About Users: A Baseline Qualitative Analysis of Key Stakeholders' Attitudes and Perceptions in Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Senegal.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionUptake of couples' HIV counselling and testing (couples' HCT) can positively influence sexual risk behaviours and improve linkage to HIV care among HIV-positive couples. However, less than 30% of married couples have ever tested for HIV together with their partners. We explored the motivations for and barriers to couples' HCT among married couples in Rakai, Uganda.
methodsThis was a qualitative study conducted among married individuals and selected key informants between August and October 2013. Married individuals were categorized by prior HCT status as: 1) both partners never tested; 2) only one or both partners ever tested separately; and 3) both partners ever tested together. Data were collected on the motivations for and barriers to couples' HCT, decision-making processes from tested couples and suggestions for improving couples' HCT uptake. Eighteen focus group discussions with married individuals, nine key informant interviews with selected key informants and six in-depth interviews with married individuals that had ever tested together were conducted. All interviews were audio-recorded, translated and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Nvivo (version 9), following a thematic framework approach.
resultsMotivations for couples' HCT included the need to know each other's HIV status, to get a treatment companion or seek HIV treatment together - if one or both partners were HIV-positive - and to reduce mistrust between partners. Barriers to couples' HCT included fears of the negative consequences associated with couples' HCT (e.g. fear of marital dissolution), mistrust between partners and conflicting work schedules. Couples' HCT was negotiated through a process that started off with one of the partners testing alone initially and then convincing the other partner to test together. Suggestions for improving couples' HCT uptake included the need for couple- and male-partner-specific sensitization, and the use of testimonies from tested couples.
conclusionsCouples' HCT is largely driven by individual and relationship-based factors while fear of the negative consequences associated with couples' HCT appears to be the main barrier to couples' HCT uptake in this setting. Interventions to increase the uptake of couples' HCT should build on the motivations for couples' HCT while dealing with the negative consequences associated with couples' HCT.
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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.