Frequency of oral rapid testing at home study

The FORTH study looked at whether free HIV self-testing kits increased testing frequency.

In this randomised trial, we recruited HIV-negative high-risk gay and bisexual men who reported anal intercourse without a condom or more than five male sexual partners in the past 3 months. Enrolled participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to the intervention (free HIV self-testing kit plus facility-based blood testing) or standard care (facility-based blood testing only).

We found that HIV self-testing increased the frequency of testing in high-risk gay and bisexual men. It also increased testing in those who delayed testing or had never been tested before compared to standard care testing.