Profile and client satisfaction among clients of Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre for human immunodeficiency virus in Delhi

Background: Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) is a place where a person is counseled and tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and also a key entry point to the prevention of HIV infection and treatment of HIV infected people. The ICTC services are cost-effective and noncoercive intervention in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The satisfaction of the clients availing these services indicates the quality of the services provided. Objective: The objective was to study the profile and satisfaction of clients attending counseling services of integrated counseling and testing centers in Delhi. Materials and Methods: The study was a descriptive, cross-sectional, health facility based study. The study was done in 20 ICTCs of Delhi. The ICTCs were chosen on the basis of population proportion to size. Consecutive sampling method was followed for recruiting the clients. After obtaining written consent, exit interview of 300 clients was undertaken. Results: Among 300 clients, 204 (68%) were males, and 96 (32%) were females. Majority, 267 (89%) of the clients were staying with family and 33 (11%) were staying with friends/roommates. The total number of referred clients was 270 (90%) and self-referred or direct walk-in client was 30 (10%). Among the direct walk-in/self-referred clients, 12 (40%) clients were recommended by their friends to come, 4 (13.3%) clients seek to avail ICTC services because of high risk behavior and 14 (46.7%) clients wanted to get tested for HIV as their spouse was HIV positive. About 96.3% of the clients who attended the counseling services were found to be satisfied. Conclusion: The proportion of self-referred/direct walk-in clients was very low, and low level of awareness about the HIV test and counseling services was found among the clients. This reflects the need to enhance the efforts directed at increasing the awareness of HIV test and counseling services. The satisfaction of clients could be further improved by better counseling sessions.