Assessment of clinical and behavioral profile of clients attending integrated counseling and testing centers of a tertiary care institute in Eastern India: A secondary data analysis

Introduction: Integrated counseling and testing center (ICTC) forms the major forum under the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) for counseling and testing of HIV-suspected patients. ICTC setup in a tertiary care institute also provides a chance for opportunistic screening of large number of individuals. Aims: The study was done to assess and to profile the ICTC clients with respect to their seropositivity rate, their biological and behavioral risk factors, and seroconcordance rate. Methodology: We did a secondary analysis of routine health data collected in the ICTC in the formats prescribed by the NACO. Statistical Data Analysis: The data were entered into MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: Majority of the clients of ICTC were in the age group of 35-49 years. Seropositivity among client-initiated group (11.9%) was much higher compared to provider-initiated group (0.3%). None of the pregnant women were found to be positive. Heterosexual route was most common form of transmission in both provider-initiated and client-initiated groups. Seroconcordance rate was 43.4% in our study. Conclusion: The ICTC of a tertiary care center attracted a huge number of patients. The seropositivity in our study was greater than those generated by sentinel surveillance system. A well-functioning ICTC can help in detecting a large number of cases and also provide a forum for counseling and education about risk factors of HIV.