{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.05837004405286344, 'fraction_numerical': 0.07378854625550661, 'mean_word_length': 5.0198675496688745, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Implementation and Operational Research: Implementation of Routine Counselor-Initiated Opt-Out HIV Testing on the Adult Medical Ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi

Abstract:The optimal approach of provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) for inpatients in high-burden settings is unknown. We prospectively evaluated the implementation of task shifting from clinician-referral to counselor-initiated PITC on the medical wards of Kamuzu Central Hospital, Malawi. Most of patients (1905/3154, 60.4%) had an unknown admission HIV status. Counselors offered testing to 66.6% (1268/1905). HIV prevalence was 39.3%. Counselor-initiated PITC significantly increased HIV testing by 79% (643/2957 vs. 1228/3154), resulting in an almost 2-fold increase in patients with known HIV status (2447/3154 vs. 1249/3154) (both P < 0.0001), with 18.4% of those tested receiving a new diagnosis of HIV.