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Acceptability of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in a Canadian Setting

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Abstract

A recent clinical trial provided evidence that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has the potential to prevent HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). We examined willingness to use PrEP among HIV-negative PWID in Vancouver, Canada (n = 543) to inform PrEP implementation efforts. One third (35.4 %) expressed willingness to use PrEP, with adjusted models indicating that younger age, no regular employment, requiring help injecting, engaging in sex work, and reporting multiple recent sexual partners were positively associated with willingness to use PrEP. Although willingness to use PrEP was low, PrEP was acceptable to some PWID at heightened risk for HIV infection.

Resumen

Reciente se demostró que la profilaxis pre-exposición (PrEP) puede evitar la infección por VIH entre personas que se inyectan drogas por vía intravenosa (PWID). Examinamos la predisposición a utilizar PrEP entre PWID HIV negativos en Vancouver, Canadá. La tercera parte (35.4 %) estaban dispuestos a usar PrEP. En el análisis ajustado menor edad, falta de empleo estable, requerir ayuda para inyectarse, trabajado sexual y haber tenido múltiples parejas sexuales recientemente se asociaron de manera positiva a utilizar PrEP. Aunque la predisposición global a utilizar PrEP fue baja, fue aceptable para algunas PWID a mayor riesgo para la infección por el VIH.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (R01DA011591). Thomas Kerr is supported by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Mark Lurie received partial support from the NIH through two research Grants (1R01MH083539-01 and 1R24HD077976-01). Daniel Escudero is supported by an NIH Grant (F31-DA037808). We would also like to thank Dr. Kenneth Mayer for his assistance with developing the survey instrument.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Brown University, 121 South Main Street, Box G-S-12-2, Providence, RI, USA

    Daniel J. Escudero, Mark N. Lurie & Brandon D. L. Marshall

  2. British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul’s Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada

    Thomas Kerr, Evan Wood & Paul Nguyen

  3. Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Thomas Kerr & Evan Wood

  4. Fundación Huésped, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Omar Sued

Authors
  1. Daniel J. Escudero
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  2. Thomas Kerr
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  3. Evan Wood
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  4. Paul Nguyen
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  5. Mark N. Lurie
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  6. Omar Sued
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  7. Brandon D. L. Marshall
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Correspondence to Brandon D. L. Marshall.

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Escudero, D.J., Kerr, T., Wood, E. et al. Acceptability of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in a Canadian Setting. AIDS Behav 19, 752–757 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0867-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0867-z

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