HIV quizzes are a great way of testing people’s knowledge and correcting any myths and misconceptions.
There are a multitude of quizzes out there that test awareness, understanding as well as perceived risk. HIV Risk Assessments are a quick and simple way to give you a sense of whether you should get an HIV test as well as provide recommendations of what life style factors should change to reduce HIV risk.
I have gathered questions from many different organisations and sites that calculate HIV risk.
This one from University of Maryland, USA has six basic questions, if you answer yes to any of them, go get tested….now.
· Have you had sex without knowing for sure if the person or people you had sex with had HIV?
· Have you had sex with someone whom you know has HIV or Aids?
· Have you had a disease passed by sex, such as genital herpes or syphilis?
· Have you had sex with many partners, or had sex with someone who has had sex with many partners?
· Have you had sex with someone who has used needles to take drugs?
· Have you shared needles to take drugs?
Most assessment quizzes ask similar questions to the ones above to determine risk behaviour. Some assessments also ask “ Have you ever exchanged sex for money, drugs, alcohol or a place to stay or have you ever paid a person to have sex?” and “Do you use drugs or alcohol before or during sex?”
But of the 15 or so assessment quizzes I looked at, only one asked “Have you been a victim of rape, date rape or sexual abuse?”
There are other modes of HIV transmission, risk evaluation should also assess them, such as “Have you engaged in behaviour resulting in blood to blood contact (e.g. tattooing or piercing) or have you or your sexual partner(s) received a blood transfusion or blood products before 1985?
HIV risk assessments gather information on a number of factors from the number of recent sex partners, the sex of each partner, the type of relationship, the status of each partner, the type of sexual activity, use of condoms, risky drug practices, STI symptoms and substance abuse to name a few.
An honest risk assessment would require detailed knowledge of your partners and knowledge of their status and this is information that can be difficult to gather or recall, unless you are confident to call up an ex and ask them their status.
So don’t wait to have a risk assessment before going to get tested. Know you status now, get tested!
