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‘It should be an ordinary thing’– a qualitative study about young people’s experiences of taking the HIV‐test and receiving the test result
Author(s) -
Christianson Monica,
Berglin Björn,
Johansson Eva Elisabeth
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2009.00762.x
Subject(s) - test (biology) , context (archaeology) , qualitative research , focus group , population , medicine , referral , family medicine , perception , health care , psychology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , environmental health , neuroscience , sociology , economics , biology , economic growth , paleontology , social science , marketing , business
Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 678–683
‘It should be an ordinary thing’– a qualitative study about young people’s experiences of taking the HIV‐test and receiving the test result Aim: Increased HIV‐testing has public health benefits, but for youth there is a multitude of barriers against the test. The aim of this study is to explore how young women and men in Sweden experience HIV‐testing within primary healthcare. Method: Six focus‐group interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed according to qualitative content analysis. Results: Three themes emerged, describing how the informants were met before, during and after testing; ‘ Obstacles accessing the clinic ’– describes their perceptions on how to overcome different barriers and enter into primary health care. ‘ Quick and easy testing ’– describes perceptions of the testing procedure and ‘ Conflicting and unclear information about test results ’– describes inconsistencies concerning communication of the test result and a concern about ‘what would happen’ in the event of an HIV‐positive finding. Most of these youth preferred the HIV‐test ‘quick and easy’ and preferred a telephone referral of the test result. A minority of them worried about HIV, and they thought that the staff seemed to be unprepared for an HIV‐positive test result. Conclusion: According to these youth, a quick and easy testing procedure together with a short pretest discussion may be sufficient and may also help normalising the testing practice. In a Swedish context, it may be common to see heterosexual youth as a risk‐free population, and this perception may act as a barrier for HIV‐testing and increase missed opportunities for early diagnose of HIV within primary care.