The (In)visibility of Misdiagnosis in Point-of-Care HIV Testing in Zimbabwe.
Morten SkovdalNadine BeckmannRufurwokuda MasweraConstance NyamukapaSimon GregsonPublished in: Medical anthropology (2022)
There is a global trend to introduce point-of-care diagnostic tests, enabling healthcare workers at any level to test, provide results, and initiate immediate treatment if necessary. This article explores how healthcare workers conducting rapid HIV tests - in contexts of limited external quality assurance mechanisms - ascertain the accuracy of their test results. Drawing on interview data and participant observations from health facilities in Zimbabwe, we open the black box of misdiagnosis (in)visibility and reveal a range of proxies and markers that HIV testers draw on to develop certainty, or question, the reliability of their diagnostic classifications.
Keyphrases
- hiv testing
- men who have sex with men
- hiv positive
- public health
- healthcare
- mental health
- human immunodeficiency virus
- minimally invasive
- genome wide
- electronic health record
- big data
- health information
- binding protein
- antiretroviral therapy
- gene expression
- hepatitis c virus
- risk assessment
- social media
- sensitive detection