AIDS and behavior
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Although HIV self-testing may overcome some barriers to HIV testing, various stakeholders have expressed concerns that HIV self-testing may lead to unintended harm, including psychological, social and medical harm. Recognizing that similar concerns were raised in the past for some other self-tests, we conduct a review of the literature on a set of self-tests that share some characteristics with HIV self-tests to determine whether there is any evidence of harm. We find that although the potential for harm is discussed in the literature on self-tests, there is very little evidence that such harm occurs.
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There is little or no data examining the association between either pain or the use or misuse of opioid analgesic with adherence to antiretroviral medications (ARVs) among HIV-infected adults. We interviewed a community-based cohort of HIV-infected indigent adults prescribed antiretroviral medications (ARVs) quarterly to examine the association between (1) pain, (2) receipt of opioid analgesics, and (3) opioid analgesic misuse with self-reported ARV adherence. Of 281 participants, most (82.5 %) reported severe or moderate pain, half (52.4 %) received a prescription for opioids, and one quarter (24.6 %) misused opioid analgesics. ⋯ In a GEE model, neither pain (unadjusted OR 1.14, CI 0.90–1.45) nor prescription of opioid analgesics (unadjusted OR 1.11, CI 0.84–1.49) were significantly associated with ARV adherence. Misuse of opioid analgesics was associated with incomplete adherence (AOR 1.42, CI 1.09–1.86). Individuals who misuse opioid analgesics, like those who use illicit substances, may have difficulty adhering to medication regimens.