Annals of emergency medicine
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Practice Guideline Guideline
Clinical policy for the initial approach to patients presenting with altered mental status.
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We sought to (1) determine whether some emergency departments could play an important role in the national strategy of early HIV detection through the implementation of a voluntary HIV screening program and (2) describe the experience with standard and rapid HIV testing. ⋯ Emergency department-based HIV testing was well accepted and detected a significant number of new HIV infections earlier than might have otherwise been, particularly among patients sent home. The rapid test is best performed on-site and is very sensitive. Confirmation of initial results is required because of the occurrence of occasional false-positive results. With relatively high HIV detection and return rates, it is evident that some EDs could play a major role in the national strategy of early HIV detection.