Objective  To examine characteristics of positive detections of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HIV-positive patients among examinees in a general hospital from 2006 to 2016.

  Methods  We collected results of serum HIV antibody detection for 646 040 examinees from 2006 through 2016 in the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University from the hospital's Clinical Information Management System; then we collected relevant data on 1 036 HIV-positive patients diagnosed among all the examinees from the AIDS Prevention and Control Information System of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.2 software.

  Results  The detection rate of HIV-positive increased yearly during the 11-year period (χ²_trend = 176.3, P < 0.001) and the rate in 2016 was 8 times higher than that in 2006. Of the first diagnosed HIV-infected individuals in 2016, 35.2% (82) had the education of college or higher and the ratio was higher than that in 2006 (28.6%), with an increasing trend (χ²_trend = 4.5, P = 0.035). For all the HIV-positive patients, 73.9% were identified being infected via the transmission among the men who have sex with men (MSM) and the annual proportion of MSM transmission increased significantly from 28.6% in 2006 to 80.7% in 2016 (χ²_trend = 134.8, P < 0.001). Of the HIV-positive individuals infected via MSM transmission, 61.4% were unmarried and the ratio was significantly higher than that (18.7%) among the HIV-positive individuals infected via heterosexual transmission (χ² = 247.5, P < 0.001).

  Conclusion  The detection rate of serum HIV antibody positive is increasing yearly among examinees in general hospitals and the majority of the HIV-positive patients were infected via MSM transmission. The results suggest that HIV antibody detection among outpatients and provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling should be promoted.