Staff View: Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study

Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study

Background: By the end of 2017, an estimated 83% of people living with HIV in Malaysia knew their serostatus. However, the Ministry of Health reported a high proportion of those newly diagnosed had low CD4 counts <200 cells/mu L, indicating late presentation for testing may be pervasive. Methods:...

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Main Authors:	Chong, Susan C. S., Kamarulzaman, Adeeba, Azwa, Iskandar, Ng, Rong-Xiang, Chong, Meng-Li, Raman, Nishaan, Bourne, Adam
Format:	Article
Published:	CSIRO Publishing 2021
Subjects:	R Medicine (General) RC Internal medicine
Online Access:	http://eprints.um.edu.my/28621/
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spelling	my.um.eprints.286212022-03-28T06:54:44Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/28621/ Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study Chong, Susan C. S. Kamarulzaman, Adeeba Azwa, Iskandar Ng, Rong-Xiang Chong, Meng-Li Raman, Nishaan Bourne, Adam R Medicine (General) RC Internal medicine Background: By the end of 2017, an estimated 83% of people living with HIV in Malaysia knew their serostatus. However, the Ministry of Health reported a high proportion of those newly diagnosed had low CD4 counts <200 cells/mu L, indicating late presentation for testing may be pervasive. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted to explore the context and experiences of people at risk of HIV infection testing and seeking treatment later in the course of their infection. Participants recruited (n = 20) were HIV positive, aged >18 years who fit the description of late presentation (World Health Organization defined as CD4 cell count <350 cells/mu L). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and a framework approach was used to interrogate the data. Results: Many participants perceived themselves at low risk of HIV infection and did not undergo routine voluntary testing; rather, they were diagnosed when seeking treatment for serious illness or as part of mandatory employment-related testing. Perceived lack of confidentiality and potential discriminatory behaviour at public health facilities were significant deterrents to testing. Participants were satisfied with HIV treatment, but rarely sought psychosocial support in order to `protect' their privacy. Conclusion: Unless drivers of HIV infection are effectively addressed, including stigmatising and discriminatory practices, and low health literacy, the occurrence of late presentation will persist. Their collective impact will not only jeopardise efforts to improve the treatment cascade, but may also impact engagement with other biomedical prevention and care technologies. CSIRO Publishing 2021 Article PeerReviewed Chong, Susan C. S. and Kamarulzaman, Adeeba and Azwa, Iskandar and Ng, Rong-Xiang and Chong, Meng-Li and Raman, Nishaan and Bourne, Adam (2021) Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study. Sexual Health, 18 (2). pp. 147-155. ISSN 1448-5028, DOI https://doi.org/10.1071/SH20180 <https://doi.org/10.1071/SH20180>. 10.1071/SH20180
institution	Universiti Malaya
building	UM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Malaya
content_source	UM Research Repository
url_provider	http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic	R Medicine (General) RC Internal medicine
spellingShingle	R Medicine (General) RC Internal medicine Chong, Susan C. S. Kamarulzaman, Adeeba Azwa, Iskandar Ng, Rong-Xiang Chong, Meng-Li Raman, Nishaan Bourne, Adam Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
description	Background: By the end of 2017, an estimated 83% of people living with HIV in Malaysia knew their serostatus. However, the Ministry of Health reported a high proportion of those newly diagnosed had low CD4 counts <200 cells/mu L, indicating late presentation for testing may be pervasive. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted to explore the context and experiences of people at risk of HIV infection testing and seeking treatment later in the course of their infection. Participants recruited (n = 20) were HIV positive, aged >18 years who fit the description of late presentation (World Health Organization defined as CD4 cell count <350 cells/mu L). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and a framework approach was used to interrogate the data. Results: Many participants perceived themselves at low risk of HIV infection and did not undergo routine voluntary testing; rather, they were diagnosed when seeking treatment for serious illness or as part of mandatory employment-related testing. Perceived lack of confidentiality and potential discriminatory behaviour at public health facilities were significant deterrents to testing. Participants were satisfied with HIV treatment, but rarely sought psychosocial support in order to `protect' their privacy. Conclusion: Unless drivers of HIV infection are effectively addressed, including stigmatising and discriminatory practices, and low health literacy, the occurrence of late presentation will persist. Their collective impact will not only jeopardise efforts to improve the treatment cascade, but may also impact engagement with other biomedical prevention and care technologies.
format	Article
author	Chong, Susan C. S. Kamarulzaman, Adeeba Azwa, Iskandar Ng, Rong-Xiang Chong, Meng-Li Raman, Nishaan Bourne, Adam
author_facet	Chong, Susan C. S. Kamarulzaman, Adeeba Azwa, Iskandar Ng, Rong-Xiang Chong, Meng-Li Raman, Nishaan Bourne, Adam
author_sort	Chong, Susan C. S.
title	Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
title_short	Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
title_full	Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
title_fullStr	Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed	Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study
title_sort	delayed hiv testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with hiv in malaysia: a qualitative study
publisher	CSIRO Publishing
publishDate	2021
url	http://eprints.um.edu.my/28621/
_version_	1735409563864137728
score	13.211869

Delayed HIV testing and treatment seeking, and associated support needs among people living with HIV in Malaysia: a qualitative study

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