Information Exposure to HIV Testing Technologies and Testing Intentions among Undergraduates in Beijing

Young people are one of the growing major affected populations in China. Recent epidemiological figures have shown a rise in the number of college students contracting HIV in China. Lack of an HIV diagnosis is a major obstacle to implementing the government’s recommendation that everyone with HIV should be offered antiretroviral therapy. HIV Self-testing offers one means to reach more people with undiagnosed HIV and creates demand for HIV testing. China’s nationwide pilot projects have been initiated to make HIV self-testing kits available on college campuses. This study was designed to 1) investigate the relationship between HIV testing intentions and the information behavior and knowledge about novel HIV testing technologies, and 2) to understand how do informational constructs work in terms of their incorporation into people’s beliefs about HIV testing. Salient informational components associated with HIV testing to be examined in this study were identified as 1) knowledge of HIV testing, 2) awareness of testing formats, 3) information seeking and 4) information exposure. There were 881 undergraduates have been collected as study samples on campus of Peking University at Beijing. A total of 759 participants ages 16-25 completed the cross-sectional survey. HIV testing intentions were significantly associated with two information variables: awareness of HIV rapid test (OR=1.74, p<0.01) and information exposure (OR=1.74, p<0.01), after accounting for the proximal TPB model predictors which are attitudes towards HIV testing, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Path analysis revealed a significant direct effect of information exposure on HIV testing intention (β=0.20, p<0.01), and a greater direct effect of awareness was detected on HIV testing intention (β=0.24, p<0.01). Findings from this study suggested that HIV testing intentions among the study sample were under attitudinal and perceived behavioral control; they were less likely, however, to be under normative control. In addition, awareness of novel HIV test and exposure to HIV testing-related information had direct impact on testing intentions, instead of operating via modifying individual’s beliefs regarding HIV testing. Interventions designed to enhance college students’ exposure to HIV testing-related information or awareness of novel testing technologies could contribute in motivating their testing intentions to some extent.