2018 · JMIR public health and surveillance · open access
Quantification of HIV-1 RNA Among Men Who Have Sex With Men Using an At-Home Self-Collected Dried Blood Spot Specimen: Feasibility Study
Hirshfield et al.
The finding, in our words
Among 554 HIV-positive men who have sex with men, 60.8 per cent successfully collected an adequate dried blood spot specimen at home for HIV-1 RNA quantification. The study revealed that 52.5 per cent had a detectable viral load, and most of these men had previously self-reported an undetectable result, demonstrating that decentralised sampling can identify gaps in treatment adherence and viral suppression.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a pilot mixed-methods study of youth with HIV, mailed HemaSpot-HF kits enabled home-based dried blood spot collection that participants found feasible and acceptable, supporting remote viral load monitoring and a self-management model for decentralised care.
Gurung et al., AIDS and behavior (paywalled) · source ↗
A study of older rural US patients found that 96 to 98 per cent of self-collected dried blood spot specimens were successfully analysed for HIV viral load, with high acceptability. However, concordance between self-reported and measured viral load was only 69 to 82 per cent, highlighting the value of objective decentralised microsampling over self-reporting.
Walsh et al., AIDS and behavior (paywalled) · source ↗
Among 154 volunteers, 85% found HemaSpot HF self-sampling acceptable, but correlation with venous blood for anti-tetanus toxin IgG was moderate (r = 0.73) and sensitivity varied from 70% to 100% depending on the cut-off value, with concentration differences widening at higher IgG levels. The device requires further improvement before it can reliably replace venous puncture for decentralised serological testing.
Self-sampling of dried blood spots for HIV viral load monitoring proved acceptable among sexual minority men who use stimulants, with 92% returning Tasso-M20 kits and 88% returning HemaSpot HD kits. Participants' device preferences centred on convenience and pain, and they highlighted that clearer instructions, contingency planning, and addressing intersectional stigma are essential for engagement, indicating that patient choice in sampling methods could improve uptake of decentralised diagnostics.
Among people who inject drugs, point-of-care HCV testing was preferred over dried blood spot collection and venepuncture because rapid results reduced anxiety. The study shows that for decentralised screening, non-judgemental care and assisted collection are critical acceptability factors, even when self-collection is available.
Stevens et al., The International journal on drug policy (paywalled) · source ↗