Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 625 N Michigan Ave 14-043, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
AIDS Behav. 2019 Oct;23(10):2749-2760. doi: 10.1007/s10461-019-02561-1.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is one of the best biomedical HIV prevention tools available. However, uptake, particularly in communities of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB), remains low. Further, the role of an individual's social support structure on PrEP uptake and adherence remains largely understudied. Understanding MSM and AMAB transgender individuals' perceptions of PrEP use as well as support and patterns of disclosure of (or intent to disclose) their PrEP status may offer key insights into how best to improve uptake in vulnerable communities. Further, the influence of one's social connections on other factors, such as perceptions of and conversations about PrEP deserves attention as well, as these factors may be key to improved knowledge and uptake. Therefore, we assessed perceptions of PrEP use, disclosure of or intent to disclose PrEP status, and social support and associated factors among a cohort of MSM and AMAB transgender individuals in a large Midwestern city. Results demonstrated that, among those not taking PrEP, bisexual participants and those unsure of their sexual identity were less likely to be comfortable with the idea of disclosing PrEP use were they ever to start taking it. Encouragingly however, we found that individuals who reported disclosing their PrEP status had high rates of support among friends and relatives. We also observed that knowing someone else who was on PrEP was associated with increased likelihood of discussing PrEP with one's medical provider, as was increased age. Other findings and implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed within.
暴露前预防(PrEP)是目前可用的最佳艾滋病生物医学预防工具之一。然而,包括男男性行为者(MSM)和跨性别男性(AMAB)在内的高危人群对 PrEP 的接受度仍然较低。此外,个体的社会支持结构对 PrEP 的使用、接受和坚持的作用在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。了解 MSM 和 AMAB 跨性别者对 PrEP 使用的看法,以及他们对 PrEP 状况的支持和披露(或打算披露)模式,可能为如何改善脆弱社区的接受度提供重要见解。此外,一个人的社会联系对其他因素的影响,如对 PrEP 的看法和讨论,也值得关注,因为这些因素可能是提高知识和接受度的关键。因此,我们评估了在一个大城市中,一组 MSM 和 AMAB 跨性别者对 PrEP 使用的看法、披露或打算披露 PrEP 状况、社会支持及其相关因素的看法。结果表明,在未服用 PrEP 的人群中,双性恋者和那些对自己的性身份不确定的人,如果他们开始服用 PrEP,不太可能对披露 PrEP 使用的想法感到舒服。然而,令人鼓舞的是,我们发现那些报告披露了 PrEP 状况的人在朋友和亲戚中得到了很高的支持率。我们还观察到,知道其他人正在服用 PrEP 与与医疗保健提供者讨论 PrEP 的可能性增加有关,年龄的增加也是如此。其他发现以及对研究、政策和实践的影响将在文中讨论。
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