Bunting Samuel R, Feinstein Brian A, Hazra Aniruddha, Sheth Neeral K, Garber Sarah S
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Department of Psychology, College of Health Professions, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA.
Prev Med Rep. 2021 Oct 7;24:101590. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101590. eCollection 2021 Dec.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective strategy for preventing HIV. However, prescription of PrEP has not reached the scale that is necessary to meet the public health need of reducing HIV incidence. A factor contributing to this slow scale-up is limited healthcare practitioners' knowledge of PrEP, making PrEP education a priority. We conducted a national, cross-sectional study of medical (allopathic and osteopathic) and pharmacy students regarding knowledge of PrEP and HIV between October 2020 and February 2021. We included 28 items in our knowledge assessment. Analysis sought to identify gaps in knowledge as well as academic and demographic correlates of knowledge. A total of 2,353 students participated in the study (response rate = 17.0%). The overall mean HIV knowledge score was 79.6% correct. Regarding specific items, 68.7% of participants believed HIV treatment was difficult because it required many pills, and 61.1% incorrectly indicated a person with an undetectable HIV viral load could transmit the virus to their sexual partners. Overall mean PrEP knowledge was 84.1%. Approximately one-third of participants did not identify HIV-negative status as a requirement to be a PrEP candidate. Gay/lesbian participants and those who were in the late-phase of training reported higher knowledge of both HIV and PrEP than did heterosexual participants and those in the early-phase of training. This study identifies specific gaps in training on HIV prevention with PrEP that must be improved in health professions education to ensure PrEP reaches its full potential in ending the HIV epidemic.
暴露前预防（PrEP）是预防艾滋病病毒（HIV）的一项高效策略。然而，PrEP的处方量尚未达到满足降低HIV发病率这一公共卫生需求所必需的规模。导致这种缓慢推广的一个因素是医疗从业者对PrEP的了解有限，这使得PrEP教育成为当务之急。我们在2020年10月至2021年2月期间对医学（西医和正骨疗法）及药学专业学生进行了一项关于PrEP和HIV知识的全国性横断面研究。我们在知识评估中纳入了28个项目。分析旨在找出知识差距以及知识的学术和人口统计学相关因素。共有2353名学生参与了该研究（回复率 = 17.0%）。HIV知识总体平均得分正确率为79.6%。关于具体项目，68.7%的参与者认为HIV治疗困难，因为需要服用很多药片，61.1%的参与者错误地指出HIV病毒载量检测不到的人可以将病毒传播给其性伴侣。PrEP知识总体平均得分为84.1%。约三分之一的参与者未将HIV阴性状态视为成为PrEP候选者的一项要求。男同性恋/女同性恋参与者以及处于培训后期的参与者报告的HIV和PrEP知识水平高于异性恋参与者以及处于培训前期的参与者。本研究确定了PrEP预防HIV培训方面的具体差距，卫生专业教育必须加以改进，以确保PrEP在终结HIV流行方面充分发挥其潜力。
