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Comfort Relying on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Treatment as Prevention for Condomless Sex: Results of an Online Survey of Australian Gay and Bisexual Men

AIDS and Behavior volume 22, pages 3617–3626 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

HIV-negative and untested gay and bisexual men from Victoria, Australia (n = 771) were surveyed during August–September 2016 about their comfort having condomless sex with casual male partners in scenarios in which pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or treatment as prevention were used. Men not using PrEP were most comfortable with the idea of condomless sex with HIV-negative partners (31%), followed by partners using PrEP (23%). PrEP users were more comfortable with the idea of condomless sex with these partner types (64 and 72%, respectively). Very few men not taking PrEP were comfortable with condomless sex with HIV-positive partners (3%), even with undetectable viral loads (6%). PrEP users were more comfortable with condomless sex with HIV-positive partners (29%), and those with undetectable viral loads (48%). Being on PrEP, having recent condomless sex with casual partners or a HIV-positive regular partner were independently associated with comfort having condomless sex.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the gay and bisexual men who participated in the study. We also thank Jason Asselin for his contributions to survey design and data management.

Funding

The Victorian Department of Health provided funding for this research. The Centre for Social Research in Health receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Health. The Burnet Institute receives funding from the Victorian Department of Health for surveillance projects. Mark Stoové was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellowship and Research Fellowship. Alisa Pedrana was supported by a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship. No pharmaceutical grants were received for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW, Level 2, John Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Martin Holt

  2. The Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Bridget L. Draper, Alisa E. Pedrana, Anna L. Wilkinson & Mark Stoové

  3. School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Alisa E. Pedrana, Anna L. Wilkinson & Mark Stoové

  4. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Alisa E. Pedrana

Authors
  1. Martin Holt
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  2. Bridget L. Draper
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  3. Alisa E. Pedrana
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  4. Anna L. Wilkinson
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  5. Mark Stoové
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Holt.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Approval

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Alfred Health Human Research Ethics Committee (Project 62/16) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia).

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Holt, M., Draper, B.L., Pedrana, A.E. et al. Comfort Relying on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Treatment as Prevention for Condomless Sex: Results of an Online Survey of Australian Gay and Bisexual Men. AIDS Behav 22, 3617–3626 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2097-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2097-2

Keywords

  • Attitudes
  • Condoms
  • Diffusion of innovations theory
  • HIV treatment
  • Men who have sex with men
  • Pre-exposure prophylaxis