Prevalence and factors associated with willingness to use oral fluid based HIV self testing among university students in Dodoma region Tanzania

Abstract Background HIV/AIDS remains a significant public health concern, with the World Health Organization reporting approximately 770,000 deaths in 2018 and about 630,000 deaths in 2022. Various strategies have been initiated to prevent transmission of the infection. The United Nations has set 95-95-95 target to ensure early identification of individuals so that they can start early treatment, thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with the willingness to use oral fluid-based HIV self-testing among university students at Dodoma region. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 university students. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 27. Results Among the recruited participants (n = 384), about 157(40.9%) were enrolled in health science-related courses and 227 (59.1%) were enrolled in non-health science-related courses. The prevalence of utilization of oral fluid-based HIV self-testing was only 22(5.7%), while utilization of blood-based HIV self-testing was 131(34.1%) The majority of university students, about 278(72.4%), were willing to use oral fluid-based HIV self-testing services in the future. Conclusion The study found that university students were more willing to use oral fluid-based HIV self-testing services due to its convenience, the need for privacy of test results, and fear of needles. However, low availability of HIV self-testing services, lack of awareness on using the HIV self-testing kit, and the need for counselling or support when testing was found to be barriers to the utilizations of oral fluid-based HIV self-testing.