Screening for HIV

Amendment

April 2007

In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published revised guidelines recommending that all individuals between 13 and 64 yeas of age be screened for HIV regardless of recognized risk factors (1). In making this recommendation, the CDC considered a number of factors, including research published subsequent to the completion of the systematic evidence report on which the 2005 HIV screening recommendations of the USPSTF are based.

In November 2006, the USPSTF assessed this new research using established methods for evaluating the quality and strength of the evidence (2). Based on this review (3), the USPSTF confirmed its "C" recommendation for screening non-pregnant adolescents and adults who are not at increased risk for HIV infection.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Revised recommendations for HIV testing of adults, adolescents, and pregnant women in health-care settings. MMWR 2006;55(RR-14):1-17.
2. Harris RP, Helfand M, Woolf SH, et al. Current methods of the third U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Am J Prev Med 2001;20(3S):21-35.
3. Chou R, Huffman L. Screening for human immunodeficiency virus: focused update of 2005 systematic evidence review. April 2007.