This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Clinical engagement associated with PrEP awareness in young black MSM

Researchers have identified several clinical factors associated with pre-exposure prophylaxis awareness in young black men who have sex with men, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The data, part of uConnect, a population-based cohort study, may help increase clinical engagement, Aditya S. Khanna, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, and colleagues reported.

"In the United States, reducing new [HIV] infections will require a determined focus on primary HIV prevention among young black men who have sex with men, the only group in the United States where HIV incidence has increased over the past decade," Khanna and colleagues wrote. "Through 2011, effective clinic-based HIV prevention interventions that target [young black MSM] have been virtually nonexistent."

The researchers used data collected from 622 participants between June 2013 and July 2014 to investigate the effect of various characteristics on PrEP awareness.

Results showed that 40.5% of participants were aware of PrEP and 12.1% of participants knew others who had used PrEP. Additionally, 72.1% of participants were not infected with HIV and 3.6% of those participants had used PrEP.

In the group of participants eligible for PrEP, meeting with an HIV outreach worker within 1 year of study recruitment was associated with PrEP awareness (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI, 1.29-3.16).

Khanna and colleagues noted that 48% of HIV-negative and PrEP-eligible participants had either private or government health coverage.

"Having a primary care provider, participating in an HIV prevention program or research study, having had an anorectal [STI] test, and membership in the House and Ball community, a national network of socially organized ‘houses’ largely comprised of [young black MSM] and transgender women that has existed in Chicago since the 1930s, were significantly associated with PrEP awareness," Khanna and colleagues noted.

The researchers said the Affordable Care Act may help to increase clinical engagement.

"Ongoing work should include scientific assessment of strategies to mobilize networks of [young black MSM] around PrEP as part of a comprehensive health care program," the authors concluded. "Concomitantly, efforts to mitigate the structural barriers that prevent PrEP uptake among [young black MSM] may greatly improve the public health effect potential of this promising HIV prevention intervention." – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.