Mater-Bronx Rapid HIV Testing Project.

In the M-BRiHT study we aim to implement a programme of opportunistic HIV screening in the Emergency Department, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. We hypothesize that such a programme will be acceptable in an Irish setting. We also wish to study the factors that influence test completion or acceptance. We will utilise informative interactive video media via a touch-screen tablet device to provide pre-test counselling and then offer rapid minimally invasive testing with a cotton-bud type swab of the buccal mucosa. In doing so we will to determine absolute numbers of those attending the ED who consent to watching the interactive information video about rapid HIV test screening. We will describe the absolute number and proportion of those who watch the interactive video who subsequently proceed to have the rapid HIV test. The primary aim is to determine the cultural, gender and ethnic factors which influence the completion of such rapid HIV testing with the future objective of maximising test completion in this crucial public health area.