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Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Awareness and Use Within High HIV Transmission Networks

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Abstract

Improved implementation of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be a valuable tool within communities experiencing high HIV incidence, such as black men who have sex with men (MSM). Using baseline data from the Chicago arm of the Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP), we examined awareness and use of PrEP within HIV potential transmission networks. Transmission Reduction Intervention Project recruited participants ages 18–69 (N = 218) during 2014–2016 from networks originating from recently and chronically HIV-infected MSM and transgender persons. In total, 53.2% of participants had heard of PrEP, while 8 (6.5%) HIV-negative participants reported ever using PrEP. In multivariable regression, PrEP awareness was associated with identifying as gay, attending some college or higher, having an HIV test in the previous 6 months, and experiencing HIV-related social support. PrEP awareness was not associated with experiencing or observing HIV-related stigma. PrEP use was associated with participants knowing two or more other PrEP-users. These findings demonstrate moderate awareness, but low uptake of PrEP within HIV potential transmission networks in Chicago. Future research should explore how to increase PrEP use in these networks and investigate the social dynamics behind our finding that PrEP users are more likely to know other PrEP users.

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under Award Number DP1DA034989 and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under award number R01AI136056. Ten percent of the funding was provided by federal sources, while 90% was provided by The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, 924 E 57th St, Suite 104, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Kellie Schueler & John A. Schneider

  2. Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, University of Chicago, 5841 S Maryland Ave, MC5065, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Matthew Ferreira & John A. Schneider

  3. Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Georgios Nikolopoulos

  4. Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Britt Skaathun

  5. Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Paraskevis & Angelos Hatzakis

  6. National Development and Research Institutes, New York City, NY, USA

    Samuel R. Friedman

  7. Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    John A. Schneider

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  1. Kellie Schueler
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Correspondence to John A. Schneider.

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Ethical Approval

Institutional Review Boards of participating institutions approved all research activities related to this study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01827228). We obtained written informed consent from all study participants. Participants were educated about HIV prevention during the intervention and were connected to appropriate health care or other supportive services when needed. All protocols and policies for this study were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Chicago. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Schueler, K., Ferreira, M., Nikolopoulos, G. et al. Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Awareness and Use Within High HIV Transmission Networks. AIDS Behav 23, 1893–1903 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02411-0

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