Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42789602›Full record

ArticlePLOS global public health2026

Acceptability and usability of home-based HIV and blood glucose self-testing and home-based blood pressure measurement in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.

Carolyn R Oliver, Meagan J Bemer, Amber Lauff, Jennifer F Morton, Shawna Cooper, Hilton Humphries, Anjali Sharma, Derek Pollard, Anna Winters, Alastair van Heerden and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLOS global public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Carolyn R OliverUniversity of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3056-8436
Meagan J BemerDepartment of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0009-7589
Amber LauffDepartment of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Jennifer F MortonDepartment of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Shawna CooperAudere, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6371-5301
Hilton HumphriesHuman Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
Anjali SharmaCentre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
Derek PollardAkros Research, Lusaka, Zambia.
Anna WintersAkros Research, Lusaka, Zambia.
Alastair van HeerdenSAMRC/WITS Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Elizabeth BukusiDepartment of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Dino RechAudere, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Paul K DrainUniversity of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9569-4097

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Home-based self-testing may improve individual health outcomes and public health programs by lowering barriers associated with clinic-based testing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We assessed the acceptability and usability of conducting home-based self-testing for HIV and blood glucose and home-based researcher-conducted testing for blood pressure in sub-Saharan Africa. We enrolled participants (≥15 years old) from households in peri-urban and rural communities of Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Participants opted in to self-directed testing for HIV and blood glucose and had their blood pressure measured by a research team member. Our primary measures included HIV status and testing history, HIV and blood glucose test results, blood pressure, self-reported usability and acceptability of self-testing, and participant preferences for future self-testing. Among the 526 participants from 100 households enrolled per country, the average age was 41 years and 63% were female. Overall, 16% of participants reported living with HIV. Over half of participants (52%) had last tested for HIV > 12 months ago or had never tested for HIV, and 8% of participants were unsure of their HIV status. Among participants who self-tested, 2% (n = 6/330) tested positive for HIV and 4% (n = 18/469) had high blood glucose, while 26% (n = 131/502) had high blood pressure measured by the study team. Only 14% of study participants reported previous self-testing. Most (>90%) participants who self-tested rated all procedures for HIV and blood glucose tests as either "very easy" or "fairly easy" to use. Most participants (87%, n = 458/526) preferred home-based testing. Home-based self-testing for HIV and blood glucose and home-based blood pressure measurement were acceptable, usable and preferred in peri-urban and rural areas of Kenya and South Africa; findings from Zambia suggest promise for home-based testing but were limited by staff-administered HIV tests. Self-testing has the potential to expand and accelerate access to healthcare delivery in LMICs.

Identifiers

PMID42789602
PMCPMC13614574

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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.