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Karusa
Kiragu and I. Tanui. "Preparedness for diagnostic testing and
counseling (DTC): A national survey of Kenyan health workers."
ABSTRACT
Background
WHO suggests that symptomatic individuals presenting at clinical
settings in areas with generalized epidemics receive opt-out HIV
counseling and testing (CT) for diagnostic accuracy. But the extent
to which health care systems are prepared for DTC is unknown. We
present results of a national study assessing the degree to which
Kenyan health care workers (HCWs) are positioned to offer DTC.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2005 among 1,897
clinicians in 247 facilities nationwide. The sample consisted of
doctors, clinical officers, nurses, laboratory staff, VCT counselors,
and social workers. Data were gathered using guided
self-administered questionnaires after ethical approvals and were
weighted to reflect the national distribution of HCWs.
Results
Half of the HCWs surveyed said they conduct some aspect of HIV CT, and
72 percent of these had been trained to do so. Among those who offer
CT,
doctors (45%) and clinical officers (40%) were the least likely to
have been trained in this procedure. Half of the HCWs trained in CT
had been trained in PMCT, 36 percent in VCT, and 18 percent in DTC. Less than 15
percent
of the entire sample had received CT training as part of preservice
education.
Conclusions
With the rolling out of DTC, there is need to build the capacity
of the many HCWs who could provide this service but presently do
not, and to train the 25 percent who presently offer it without appropriate
preparation, especially doctors and clinical officers.
Learning objective
- To assess the extent to which health workers in Kenya are
ready for DTC.
Poster Session 3276.0—HIV/AIDS Prevalence, Risk Behaviors,
Antiretroviral Therapy Issues, and Treatment/Prevention Options
in East and Southern Africa
Monday, 5 November 2007,
2:30–3:30
pm
APHA 2007 Conference Web site
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