{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T18:02:10Z","timestamp":1790359330113,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790294400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["INV-063459"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["INV-063459"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Home-based self-testing may improve individual health outcomes and public health programs by lowering barriers associated with clinic-based testing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We assessed the acceptability and usability of conducting home-based self-testing for HIV and blood glucose and home-based researcher-conducted testing for blood pressure in sub-Saharan Africa. We enrolled participants (\u226515 years old) from households in peri-urban and rural communities of Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Participants opted in to self-directed testing for HIV and blood glucose and had their blood pressure measured by a research team member. Our primary measures included HIV status and testing history, HIV and blood glucose test results, blood pressure, self-reported usability and acceptability of self-testing, and participant preferences for future self-testing. Among the 526 participants from 100 households enrolled per country, the average age was 41 years and 63% were female. Overall, 16% of participants reported living with HIV. Over half of participants (52%) had last tested for HIV\u2009&gt;\u200912 months ago or had never tested for HIV, and 8% of participants were unsure of their HIV status. Among participants who self-tested, 2% (n\u2009=\u20096\/330) tested positive for HIV and 4% (n\u2009=\u200918\/469) had high blood glucose, while 26% (n\u2009=\u2009131\/502) had high blood pressure measured by the study team. Only 14% of study participants reported previous self-testing. Most (&gt;90%) participants who self-tested rated all procedures for HIV and blood glucose tests as either \u201cvery easy\u201d or \u201cfairly easy\u201d to use. Most participants (87%, n\u2009=\u2009458\/526) preferred home-based testing. Home-based self-testing for HIV and blood glucose and home-based blood pressure measurement were acceptable, usable and preferred in peri-urban and rural areas of Kenya and South Africa; findings from Zambia suggest promise for home-based testing but were limited by staff-administered HIV tests. Self-testing has the potential to expand and accelerate access to healthcare delivery in LMICs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0005445","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T17:44:49Z","timestamp":1790358289000},"page":"e0005445","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Acceptability and usability of home-based HIV and blood glucose self-testing and home-based blood pressure measurement in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3056-8436","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Carolyn R.","family":"Oliver","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington School of Medicine","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0009-7589","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Meagan J.","family":"Bemer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Global Health"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amber","family":"Lauff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Global Health"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer F.","family":"Morton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Global Health"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6371-5301","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Shawna","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Audere","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"]},{"name":"Audere","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hilton","family":"Humphries","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Human Sciences Research Council","place":["Pretoria, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anjali","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia","place":["Lusaka, Zambia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Derek","family":"Pollard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Akros Research","place":["Lusaka, Zambia"]},{"name":"Akros Research","place":["Missoula, Montana, United States of America"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Winters","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Akros Research","place":["Lusaka, Zambia"]},{"name":"Akros Research","place":["Missoula, Montana, United States of America"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alastair","family":"van Heerden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand","place":["Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa"],"department":["SAMRC\/WITS Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elizabeth","family":"Bukusi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Global Health"]},{"name":"Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute","place":["Nairobi, Kenya"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dino","family":"Rech","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Audere","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"]},{"name":"Vanderbilt University Medical Centre","place":["Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9569-4097","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Paul K.","family":"Drain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Washington School of Medicine","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"]},{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Global Health"]},{"name":"University of Washington","place":["Seattle, Washington, United States of America"],"department":["Department of Epidemiology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pgph.0005445.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boutayeb A. 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