Maternal views and acceptance of antenatal HIV screening in a university teaching hospital in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE

To assess maternal acceptance, knowledge, attitude, perceived risks and barriers toward antenatal HIV screening.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective anonymous survey of 1,519 pregnant women recruited in a university teaching hospital

RESULTS

Women demonstrated fairly good knowledge of and a positive attitude toward HIV screening. Condom usage was 61.4%, and 25.3% of women had at least 1 risk factor for HIV infection. Support for mandatory and universal screening was 31.4% and 48.8%, respectively. A total of 82.6% women agreed to HIV testing. The major reason for declining the test was that women considered themselves to be at low risk (84.3%). Women with risk factors tended to prefer more aggressive methods of antenatal testing (P < .001) and more readily accepted HIV screening (89.8% vs. 73.1%, P < .001).

CONCLUSION

Given the high acceptance rate in our local population, universal offering but voluntary testing is the optimal mode of antenatal HIV screening in Hong Kong.