Funding Source and Project Period: NIMH, 2009-2012

Key HIV Center Personnel

Principal Investigator: Alex Carballo-Dieguez, Ph.D.
Co-Investigators: Ivan Balan, Ph.D.; Curtis Dolezal, Ph.D.

Project Overview

The Rapid Home Test study is an exploration of how self-testing for HIV might be used by men with male sex partners who choose not to use condoms consistently. The Food and Drug Administration is considering authorization of over-the-counter sales of the oral fluid-based rapid HIV test, but little is known about how men might use the product to screen their sexual partners.

The study is being conducted by a team headed by Alex Carballo-Diéguez, Ph.D. In the first stage of the study, volunteers were asked to consider how they might use the rapid HIV home test (HT) in a variety of scenarios involving different types of sexual partners, including their motivations to use the test (or not use it), how they would do so and what problems they anticipated in suggesting this practice and/or in handling the results.

Now, men who volunteer and qualify for the study are being given test kits to take home and asked to report on their experience for three months. Participants will be asked to keep a phone tally of their sexual behavior and HT use (receiving incentives per call). At the end of the three months, participants will be interviewed on their experiences using (or not using) HT with partners. The study will make it possible to determine whether the strategy warrants a larger and longer trial of HT users to develop an intervention.

All procedures and study instruments have been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the New York State Psychiatric Institute-Columbia University.

For more information, call Tim Frasca (212) 568-4506 or Juan Valladares (212) 568-4283. Se habla español.

To access information about HIV testing and related services in New York City, click here.

Publications (as of 12/31/2010 ):

Ventuneac, A., Carballo-Dieguez, A., Leu, C., Levin, B., Bauermeister, J.A., Woodman-Maynard, E., & Giguere, R. (2009). Use of a rapid HIV home test to screen sexual partners: An evaluation of its possible use and relative risk among men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 13(4), 731-737.