Assessing Fidelity to HIV Index Case Testing Protocols in Malawian Clinical Settings: Results From a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction

HIV index case testing is an evidence-based practice in which health care workers (HCWs) counsel people living with HIV (index clients) to offer HIV testing services to their sexual partners and biological children (contacts). For index case testing to be effective, it is important that index- and contact-client counselling protocols are implemented as intended (fidelity). We evaluated whether a digital training implementation strategy improved HCWs' fidelity to these counselling protocols.