Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.
The Africa Center for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), Pretoria, South Africa.
Pan Afr Med J. 2022 Feb 16;41:136. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2022.41.136.32881. eCollection 2022.
we examined HIV-related social norms and perceptions among South African adolescents aged 15-18 years and evaluated their openness to using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce HIV risk.
we analyzed cross-sectional data of 4,567 adolescents aged 15-18 years from the "fifth South African National HIV prevalence, HIV incidence, behaviour and communication survey (2017/2018)". Outcomes of interest in our study were HIV-related social norms and awareness of HIV prevention methods, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
our results showed that compared to their female counterparts, a significantly higher percentage of male adolescents endorsed the statement "Men can have two or more sexual partners at the same time" (14.2% vs 10.1%, p=0.021). Condoms were the most popular method of HIV prevention, with 83.5% of all participants reporting awareness. Yet, 35.4% of those sexually active in the past year reported not using condoms all the time. Perceived parental sex education and exposure to community campaigns for HIV prevention were both associated with increased awareness of HIV prevention measures and openness to PrEP. Unaided recall of PrEP was very low (3.7%), but most of those who were HIV seronegative (69.3%) were open to using it after learning about it. Openness towards PrEP was significantly higher among those reporting vs not reporting past-year sexual activity (adjusted prevalence ratio (APR=1.16, 95%CI, 1.06-1.28), and binge-drinking (APR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.08-1.41).
this study showed that while many South African adolescents were interested in trying PrEP, initial awareness was low. Ensuring barrier-free access to evidence-based preventive strategies may benefit public health.
我们研究了南非 15-18 岁青少年的 HIV 相关社会规范和认知，并评估了他们对使用暴露前预防（PrEP）降低 HIV 风险的接受程度。
我们分析了来自“第五次南非全国 HIV 流行率、HIV 发病率、行为和传播调查（2017/2018 年）”的 4567 名 15-18 岁青少年的横断面数据。我们研究中的感兴趣结局是 HIV 相关社会规范和对 HIV 预防方法的认知，包括暴露前预防（PrEP）。
我们的结果表明，与女性相比，男性青少年中更倾向于认同“男性可以同时有两个或更多性伴侣”的比例显著更高（14.2%比 10.1%，p=0.021）。避孕套是最受欢迎的 HIV 预防方法，83.5%的参与者知晓。然而，在过去一年有过性行为的人中，有 35.4%的人报告并非一直使用避孕套。感知到的父母性教育和接触社区 HIV 预防活动都与增加对 HIV 预防措施的认知和对 PrEP 的开放态度相关。非辅助记忆 PrEP 的比例非常低（3.7%），但大多数 HIV 阴性者（69.3%）在了解 PrEP 后表示愿意使用。与未报告过去一年性行为的人相比，报告过去一年有性行为的人对 PrEP 的开放态度更高（调整后的流行率比（APR）=1.16，95%CI，1.06-1.28），与 binge-drinking（APR=1.24，95%CI，1.08-1.41）。
本研究表明，虽然许多南非青少年对尝试 PrEP 感兴趣，但初始认知水平较低。确保无障碍获得基于证据的预防策略可能有益于公共卫生。
