Low concordance with HIV testing guidelines in a retrospective review of intensive care practice
- 1Critical Care Directorate, Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Chesterfield, UK
- 2Department of Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
- 3Department of Infection and Immunity, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK
- Correspondence to Dr Mark Christopher Dodd, Critical Care Directorate, Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Calow, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5BL, UK; mark.dodd{at}chesterfieldroyal.nhs.uk
- Received 14 October 2012
- Revised 22 January 2013
- Accepted 8 February 2013
- Published Online First 7 March 2013
Abstract
Records were reviewed (n=1052) for patients admitted to a large general intensive care unit (GICU) and examined for HIV testing criteria published in UK national testing guidelines (UKNG). All actual tests sent from GICU were also examined for comparison. Strict application of the UKNG revealed 30% of patients met criteria for HIV testing on admission to GICU. With pragmatic application, 18% of admissions met criteria for testing. Less than 5% of admissions were actually tested when no testing guideline was adopted. Discussion: The UKNG can be adopted in a representative GICU to increase HIV testing rate by 4–6-fold.
