Mandatory premarital testing for human immunodeficiency virus. The Illinois experience
B. J. Turnock and C. J. Kelly
Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago 60601.
During the first 6 months of legislatively mandated premarital testing for
human immunodeficiency virus in Illinois, 8 of 70,846 applicants for
marriage licenses were found to be seropositive, yielding a seroprevalence
of 0.011%. The total cost of the testing program for 6 months is estimated
at $2.5 million or $312,000 per seropositive individual identified. Half of
the reported seropositive individuals reported a history of risk behavior.
During the same period, the number of marriage licenses issued in Illinois
decreased by 22.5%, while the number of licenses issued to Illinois
residents in surrounding states increased significantly. We conclude that
mandatory premarital testing is not a cost-effective method for the control
of human immunodeficiency virus infection.
