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Risky sexual behavior did not increase among partners on PrEP
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HIV-negative partners in heterosexual serodiscordant relationships show no significant increase in risky sexual behavior, even when they know they are protected by their use of pre-exposure prophylaxis, according to study results published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The Partners PrEP Study, completed in July 2011, established that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can protect HIV-negative men and women in serodiscordant couples from HIV transmission. Researchers used data from this study to conduct a longitudinal analysis to determine whether knowledge of the efficacy of the regimen affected the sexual behavior of HIV-negative partners.
Jared Baeten
“Evidence for the effectiveness of new HIV prevention strategies, including pre-exposure prophylaxis, has spurred optimism that the global HIV epidemic might be reversed,” study researcher Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington, said in a press release. “However, an important question is whether HIV-negative partners who know they’re protected by prophylaxis will compensate for this by increasing their sexual risk-taking, such as through increasing their levels of unprotected sex.”
The researchers observed 3,024 HIV-negative participants, 12 months before and 12 months after the Partners PrEP Study was completed. They found no significant difference in unprotected sex taking place between partners. However, there was a small increase in the frequency of unprotected sex outside of the study partnership.
They concluded that behavior changes resulting from PrEP may not diminish its strong HIV protection.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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