How to Read EIA Urine HIV Test Results

First approved for use in 1996, a urine-based enzyme immunoassay (EIA) HIV test uses a urine sample to screen the patient for the presence of the antibodies manufactured by the human body to fight the HIV-1 virus. The test is usually used in cases when blood or oral-fluid testing, which is generally considered slightly more accurate, is not the most practical solution.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Physician

Interpret Your EIA Urine HIV Test Results

1. See your doctor or visit your local sexual-health center or clinic. In most places, an EIA urine HIV test can only be ordered and administered by a doctor. However, some home-based testing kits, which submit urine samples to laboratories, have surfaced recently.

2. Provide a urine sample, as directed by the person administering the test. The sample will then be sent to a laboratory for analysis.

3. Have your doctor, or the person giving the test, explain the fine points of how the results of the test are read. What the laboratory is looking for is an amount of HIV-1 antigens in the blood that exceeds a reactive threshold (which may vary from place to place). If enough antigens to constitute a reactive sample are found, the same sample is retested.

4. Anticipate that results of the test will not be read to you over the phone. They will usually be sent to the doctor who ordered the test. He will then report them to you.

5. Report to the testing facility as scheduled to have the results of your test read to you or to view them yourself. The report generated will provide details of the test including: how many times the sample was analyzed, how significant a presence of HIV-1 antigens it contained and what this laboratory's reactive-level threshold is currently.

6. Confirm a positive or negative result with further testing if suggested by your doctor.

Tips & Warnings

• More recent clinical studies have concluded that the gap in the accuracy of urine-based and blood, plasma or oral fluid-based HIV tests is closing to the point where the two are, for all intents and purposes, equal.
• Anyone showing a positive or inconclusive reading will be asked to submit to further testing, using different methods, to confirm the result. Despite improvements, the EIA urine HIV test is not the most accurate one available.
• Don't place all your faith in home testing. Home-based testing kits are considered inferior to urine-based HIV tests that are administered in a clinical environment.

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