Denver HIV Risk Score Calculator (targeted HIV testing score)

Understanding the Denver HIV risk score calculator — concept and principle

This calculator adds up the Denver HIV Risk Score, a point system built to help emergency departments decide whom to offer HIV testing when not everyone can be tested. It shows the total from −14 to 81, whether it reaches the study's high-risk threshold and the points from age. Public-health staff, students and people curious about the score use it.

Points for testing priority — with the default inputs: Score 17.

How it is calculated

Age: 22–25 or 55–60 +4; 26–32 or 47–54 +10; 33–46 +12; otherwise 0
Male +21
Black +9; Hispanic +3
Sex with a man +22; vaginal intercourse −10; receptive anal intercourse +8
Injection drug use +9; previous HIV test −4
High-risk group: 30 or more

The principle

Haukoos and colleagues (2012) studied emergency-department patients in Denver and found which characteristics predicted undiagnosed HIV. Each factor's points reflect how much it changed the measured prevalence in that US population. Race and sex appear because they changed prevalence in the study data, not because they cause infection. In the external validation, a score of 30 or more defined a group in which undiagnosed HIV was several times more common.

Worked example

Defaults: age 29, male, White/Asian/other, no sex with men, vaginal intercourse yes, no receptive anal intercourse, no injection drug use, tested before.

Points from age 29 = 10.
Score = 10 + 21 + 0 + 0 − 10 + 0 + 0 − 4 = 17.
Group: Below 30.

How to read the result

Where does your result fall?

The score only sorts people for targeted screening programmes; it says nothing about whether a particular person has HIV. Only a test can show that. US public-health guidance (CDC) recommends at least one HIV test for everyone aged 13–64, and more often for people with ongoing risk, whatever their score.

Common mistakes

Treating a low score as proof of no infection.
Using the score in countries with very different HIV patterns.
Skipping a test because of a low score after a recent exposure.
Reading race or sex points as biological causes.

Keep in mind: Not a diagnosis. If you may have been exposed to HIV, get tested and ask a health service about PEP, which must be started within 72 hours.

Frequently asked questions

What Denver HIV score is high risk?

30 or more in the external validation study.

Does a low score mean I do not have HIV?

No. Only an HIV test can tell.

Why does a previous test lower the score?

In the study, people tested before were less likely to have undiagnosed HIV.

Sources: Haukoos JS, Lyons MS, Lindsell CJ, et al., "Derivation and validation of the Denver Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) risk score for targeted HIV screening", Am J Epidemiol 2012;175(8):838–846 · Haukoos JS, et al., external validation of the Denver HIV Risk Score, Ann Emerg Med 2013;61(3):353–361

Checked 9 Nov 2026. Haukoos JS, Lyons MS, Lindsell CJ et al., “Derivation and validation of the Denver Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) risk score for targeted HIV screening”, Am J Epidemiol 2012;175(8):838–846; point table (Table 1, “The Denver HIV Risk Score”) and the ≥30 high-risk threshold from the external validation, Haukoos JS et al., Ann Emerg Med 2013;61(3):353–361.

Your numbers