Barriers to HIV Screening in the College Age Population in Western New York

HIV continues to be a significant public health risk despite advances in testing, treatment, and prevention. New York has more new diagnoses of HIV than any other state in the United States. Persons under 40 represent a significant population of new infections in New York. In 2014 Governor Cuomo endorsed the Ending the Epidemic campaign to significantly decrease the transmission of HIV through a three-point plan by 2020. As the benchmark has come upon us this research was undertaken to explore college aged individuals self-report of having HIV screening offered to them in their primary care office. Imogene King’s Theory of Goal Attainment was used as a theoretical framework to explore HIV from the personal, interpersonal, and social realms. 46 college aged subjects were enrolled in a descriptive quantitative study to examine the percentages of those being screened, who was completing the screening and select barriers that prevented screening from taking place. The results were consistent with previous literature that HIV screening is not aligned with the CDC guidelines that were released in 2006. 60.9% (n=28) of subjects report they have not been offered screening for HIV. Most screening for HIV is being completed by providers themselves. Past literature has identified willingness by providers to increase testing, but many barriers prevent the introduction of screening into routine care. This study found that 76.1% (n=35) of the subjects expressed willingness to addressing HIV screening with nurses/medical assistants in their primary care office. This may very well be a substantial option to increase HIV screening