Mitchell Jason W, Lee Ji-Young, Woodyatt Cory, Bauermeister José, Sullivan Patrick, Stephenson Rob
a Department of Public Health Sciences , University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami , FL , USA.
b Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA.
AIDS Care. 2016 Aug;28(8):994-9. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1168911. Epub 2016 Apr 7.
One efficacious strategy to help prevent HIV is oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily regimen of antiretroviral treatment taken by HIV-negative individuals. Two of the recommendations of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for PrEP pertain to being in a relationship (i.e., male couples). Despite the recognition of how primary partners in male couples' relationships shape HIV risk and CDC's PrEP guidelines, there is a paucity of data that examine HIV-negative male couples' attitudes toward PrEP use and using PrEP with a sexual agreement. A sexual agreement is an explicit agreement made between two individuals about what sex and other related behaviors may occur within and outside of their relationship. In this qualitative study, we examine HIV-negative male couples' attitudes toward PrEP use and whether they thought PrEP could be integrated into a sexual agreement. Data for this study are drawn from couple-level interviews conducted in 2014 with 29 HIV-negative male couples who had a sexual agreement and were from Atlanta or Detroit. Both passive (e.g., flyers) and active (e.g., targeted Facebook advertisements) recruitment methods were used; the sample was stratified by agreement type. Thematic analysis was applied to identify the following themes regarding HIV-negative male couples' attitudes toward PrEP use: (1) PrEP and condom use; (2) concerns about PrEP (e.g., effectiveness, side effects, and promoting sexually risky behavior); and (3) accessibility of PrEP. Some thought PrEP could be a part of couples' agreement because it could help reduce sexual anxiety and sexual risk, and would help keep the couple safe. Others described PrEP use with an agreement as something for "others". Some were also concerned that incorporating PrEP could usurp the need for a sexual agreement in a couples' relationship. These themes highlight the need to improve informational messaging and promotion efforts about PrEP among HIV-negative male couples who may benefit from using it.
一种有助于预防艾滋病病毒(HIV)的有效策略是口服暴露前预防(PrEP),即HIV阴性个体每日服用抗逆转录病毒药物的治疗方案。美国疾病控制与预防中心(CDC)关于PrEP的指南中有两条建议与恋爱关系(即男性伴侣)有关。尽管人们认识到男性伴侣关系中的主要伴侣如何影响HIV感染风险以及CDC的PrEP指南,但缺乏数据来研究HIV阴性男性伴侣对使用PrEP以及在性协议下使用PrEP的态度。性协议是两个人之间就他们关系内外可能发生的性行为及其他相关行为达成的明确协议。在这项定性研究中,我们考察了HIV阴性男性伴侣对使用PrEP的态度,以及他们是否认为PrEP可以纳入性协议。本研究的数据来自2014年对29对来自亚特兰大或底特律、有性协议的HIV阴性男性伴侣进行的伴侣层面访谈。采用了被动(如传单)和主动(如针对性的脸书广告)两种招募方法;样本按协议类型分层。运用主题分析法确定了以下关于HIV阴性男性伴侣对使用PrEP态度的主题:(1)PrEP与使用避孕套;(2)对PrEP的担忧(如有效性、副作用以及助长性风险行为);(3)PrEP的可及性。一些人认为PrEP可以成为伴侣协议的一部分,因为它有助于减轻性焦虑和性风险,并能保障伴侣安全。另一些人则将在协议下使用PrEP描述为“其他人”的做法。一些人还担心纳入PrEP可能会取代伴侣关系中性协议的必要性。这些主题凸显了有必要改善针对可能受益于使用PrEP的HIV阴性男性伴侣的PrEP信息传播和推广工作。