NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New York State's name-based HIV reporting and partner notification law, which went into effect June 1, 2000, has not led to a decline in HIV testing or the willingness of high-risk individuals to be tested, research shows.

The law requires named reporting, by doctors and laboratories, of persons with HIV infection, HIV-related illness and AIDS. The reporting of known partners is also required, as is screening for intimate partner violence.

"A primary concern with named HIV reporting is that it might deter HIV testing behavior," Dr. James M. Tesoriero of the AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health, Menands, noted in comments to Reuters Health. "In addition, concern was expressed that the formal integration of HIV partner notification and intimate partner violence screening into New York's law might affect HIV testing behavior."

Against this backdrop, Tesoriero and colleagues examined the effect of New York State's name-based HIV reporting and partner notification law on HIV testing levels and testing decisions by conducting in-person interviews with 761 high-risk individuals.

According to Tesoriero, "high-risk individuals were generally unaware of New York's HIV reporting law and few cited concern about named reporting as a reason for avoiding or delaying testing."

The results of the study, published online on February 28 by the American Journal of Public Health, also showed that levels of HIV testing in New York State were not impacted by the law.

"HIV reporting," Tesoriero noted, "has greatly improved the monitoring of New York's HIV/AIDS epidemic," and based on the current research, "this benefit has not been offset by decreases in HIV testing, including willingness to test among those at highest risk of acquiring HIV."