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The Counseling, Testing and Referral (CTR) System consists of MDH-funded agencies that provide free or low-cost HIV testing to Minnesota residents. The system offers anonymous and confidential testing in clinical and office settings or during outreach, and most of these sites have moved to offering rapid HIV testing instead of the more traditional blood draw. Confidential tests are name-based and can therefore be reported to MDH and added to the yearly surveillance statistics. Anonymous tests are code-based and are not included in yearly surveillance, although positive anonymous results are reported to MDH. Occasionally, an anonymous test will be linked to a surveillance case if the individual mentions having received a previous positive diagnosis and recalls the date and site of that test, as well as the code given to him/her.
The number of tests conducted by the CTR agencies has grown from 10,597 in 2005 to 13,237 in
2014. The positivity rate (percent of positive tests among all tests performed) has ranged from
1.0% in 2010 to 1.5% in 2007. However in 2014, the positivity rate dropped to 0.8%
The majority of those tested in 2014 were males (70%), between the ages of 20 and 39 (67%), and people of color (52%). Of the 13,237 tests conducted, 33% indicated male-to-male sex, and
6% indicated injection drug use in the past 12 months. The table below shows the number of tests by client characteristics along with positivity rate. Fifteen percent of those tested had never had a previous test. Of those with a previous test, 99% reported a negative result for their most recent HIV test.
In 2014, 4% of those tested chose an anonymous test, and 28% of the tests were done outside of a health care setting
Minnesota HIV/AIDS Epidemiologic Profile—HIV Testing
December 2015

CTR System Tests by Gender, Race, Age, and Risk 2014
Client Characteristics*
Gender
Male
Female
Transgender
Unknown
Race/Ethnicity
White
African American/Black
Asian/Pacific Islander
American Indian
Multiple Races
Unknown
Hispanic †
Age
19 and under
20 - 39
40 - 59
60 and older
Unknown
Risk Category
MSM
IDU
MSM/IDU
High-risk heterosexual contact
Low-risk heterosexual contact
Other #
Unknown Risk
Total
Number of Tests (percent)
9,286 (70)
3,779(29)
83(0.6)
89 (0.6)
6,461 (49)
4,126 (31)
497 (4)
692 (5)
405 (3)
1,056 (8)
1,378 (10)
629 (5)
8,889 (67)
3,297 (25)
392 (3)
30 (0.2)
4,143 (31)
616 (5)
195 (1)
3,787 (29)
3,507 (27)
144 (0.4)
845 (6)
13,237 (100)
Positivity Rate
1.0
0.4
1.2
0.0
0.7
1.1
0.2
0.6
1.0
0.9
1.0
0.2
0.8
0.9
1.3
0.0
1.6
0.5
3.6
0.4
0.3
0.0
0.8
0.8
* Numbers will not add to total
† Includes all races
# Includes low and high risk sex with transgender person and female to female contact
Minnesota HIV/AIDS Epidemiologic Profile—HIV Testing
December 2015