Introduction
Pre-exposure prophylaxis
(PrEP) is an effective tool to reduce HIV transmission. The primary objective
of this study was to assess awareness of PrEP by individuals living with HIV
(HIV+) and acceptance of its use for their HIV negative (HIV-) partners.
Methods
A cross sectional survey
was conducted among individuals living with HIV who received care at an urban
HIV clinic between January 2013 and June 2013. The survey examined knowledge,
attitudes, and acceptability of PrEP, and perception of transmission risk of
HIV. Chi-Square test and Fisher's Exact test were used to compare proportions.
Results
Among 206 subjects
living with HIV, 15.3% (32) had heard of PrEP. Men who have sex with men (MSM)
were more likely to be aware of PrEP than all others (p = 0.003). Once educated
about PrEP those who believed PrEP would reduce their partner’s risk for HIV
were more likely to recommend PrEP to their partner (p<0.001). 92% of all
respondents said they would be “extremely likely/likely” to discuss PrEP use
with their provider. Of 159 subjects whose main partner was HIV-, MSM (p =
0.007), male participants (p = 0.044), and those who were consistently taking
meds (p = 0.049) were more likely to be aware of PrEP. Those who perceived they
were at risk of transmitting HIV (p<0.001) and those who were consistently taking
meds (0.049) were more likely to agree that PrEP could reduce the risk of HIV
to their partners.
Conclusion
This study illustrates a
low awareness of PrEP but once educated the willingness of a cohort of
individuals living with HIV to recommend PrEP to their partners. Our findings
demonstrate the importance of providers informing their patients living with
HIV about PrEP, as these persons are an underutilized link to support the
uptake of PrEP by their HIV- partners.
Factors Associated with PrEP Awareness and Acceptance (206).
| Awareness: Have you ever heard of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before? | ||||
| Yes N (%) | No N (%) | p-value | ||
| Sexual Orientation(Non MSM includes heterosexual, lesbian, and questioning/don’t’ know) | Non- MSM (153) | 17(11.9) | 135 (89%) | 0.003 |
| MSM (53) | 15 (28.8%) | 43(74.1) | ||
| Gender | Male (117) | 25 (21.4) | 92 (78.6) | 0.011 |
| Female (86) | 7 (8.1) | 79 (91.9) | ||
| Condom use during last sexual encounter | Yes (144) | 19(13.2) | 125(86.8) | 0.093 |
| No (57) | 13(22.8) | 44 (77.2) | ||
| Have you missed any medicine in past 7 days? | Yes (62) | 51 (82.3) | 11 (17.7) | 0.062 |
| No (129) | 118(91.5) | 11(8.5) | ||
| Acceptance: How likely would you be to recommend PrEP to an HIV—partner? | ||||
| Extremely Likely/Likely | Extremely Unlikely/ Unlikely/Unsure | p-value | ||
| Education | Finished High School (134) | 122 (91.0) | 12 (9.0) | 0.170 |
| Did not finish High School (72) | 61 (84.7) | 11 (15.3) | ||
| I believe PrEP will reduce the risk of HIV transmission to my partner | Strongly Agree/Agree (170) | 160 (94.1) | 10 (5.9) | <0.001 |
| Strongly Disagree/ Disagree/ Undecided (35) | 23 (65.7) | 12 (34.3) | ||
Boldface indicates statistical significance (p<0.05)
Full article at: http://goo.gl/bjjplk
By:
Jesse Lawton Clark, Editor
1Drexel University College of Medicine,
Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
2Department of Infectious Diseases and HIV
Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United
States of America
3Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel
University School of Public Health, Philadelphia,PA, United States of America
David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA, UNITED STATES
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no
competing interests exist.
Conceived and designed the experiments: EA ZS.
Performed the experiments: JSJ. Analyzed the data: EG ES. Contributed
reagents/materials/analysis tools: EA JSJ ZS EG ES. Wrote the paper: JSJ EA ZS
EG ES.
¤Current address: AJ Drexel Autism Institute,
Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, United States of
America
* E-mail: ude.lexerd@34jsJ
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
No comments:
Post a Comment