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HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--a quantitative ethics appraisal.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:There is now strong evidence that preventive oral antiretroviral therapy can moderately reduce likelihood of HIV infection. This concept is called HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Premature closures of some previous PrEP clinical trials, secondary to ethical concerns, did not stop research. We aimed to appraise the extent of ethics considerations reporting in PrEP study documents. METHODS:We conducted a systematic quantitative ethics appraisal, grounded in PrEP literature and using eight principles proposed by Ezechiel Emanuel. We developed an a priori checklist of 101 evidence-based ethics items. We obtained protocols for eleven of nineteen clinical controlled studies identified. Two reviewers independently appraised study documents against the checklist. Ethics appraisal was synthesized using adjusted percentages of items reported. RESULTS:On average, 58% of the 101 ethics items were mentioned or addressed in documents, with variations noted both across studies and across principles. Considerations pertaining to social value were least reported (43% of checklist items, on average) whereas considerations related to informed consent and favorable risk-benefit ratio were most reported (75% of checklist items, on average). DISCUSSION:Some PrEP studies reportedly address more ethics considerations than others but, overall, ethics considerations reporting could be much improved. While this review does not allow us to comment on the actual execution of HIV PrEP trials, it is a reminder that optimism generated by potentially effective interventions should not overshadow the importance of ethics in research design and development. Improving ethics reporting might improve the perceived value of PrEP research and subsequent data.

SUBMITTER: Kokolo MB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3151244 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--a quantitative ethics appraisal.

Kokolo Madzouka B MB Fergusson Dean A DA Cameron D William DW

PloS one 20110805 8

<h4>Background</h4>There is now strong evidence that preventive oral antiretroviral therapy can moderately reduce likelihood of HIV infection. This concept is called HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Premature closures of some previous PrEP clinical trials, secondary to ethical concerns, did not stop research. We aimed to appraise the extent of ethics considerations reporting in PrEP study documents.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a systematic quantitative ethics appraisal, grounded in PrEP lite ...[more]

PMID: 21850229

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Project description:BackgroundHIV remains a persistent health problem in the United States, especially among women. Approved in 2012, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a daily pill or bimonthly injection that can be taken by individuals at increased risk of contracting HIV to reduce their risk of new infection. Women who are at risk of HIV face numerous barriers to HIV services and information, underscoring the critical need for strategies to increase awareness of evidence-based HIV prevention methods, such as HIV PrEP, among women.ObjectiveWe aimed to identify historical trends in the use of Twitter hashtags specific to women and HIV PrEP and explore content about women and PrEP shared through Twitter.MethodsThis was a qualitative descriptive study using a purposive sample of tweets containing hashtags related to women and HIV PrEP from 2009 to 2022. Tweets were collected via Twitter's API. Each Twitter user profile, tweet, and related links were coded using content analysis, guided by the framework of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to generate results. We used a factor analysis to identify salient clusters of tweets.ResultsA total of 1256 tweets from 396 unique users were relevant to our study focus of content about PrEP specifically for women (1256/2908, 43.2% of eligible tweets). We found that this sample of tweets was posted mostly by organizations. The 2 largest groups of individual users were activists and advocates (61/396, 15.4%) and personal users (54/396, 13.6%). Among individual users, most were female (100/166, 60%) and American (256/396, 64.6%). The earliest relevant tweet in our sample was posted in mid-2014 and the number of tweets significantly decreased after 2018. We found that 61% (496/820) of relevant tweets contained links to informational websites intended to provide guidance and resources or promote access to PrEP. Most tweets specifically targeted people of color, including through the use of imagery and symbolism. In addition to inclusive imagery, our factor analysis indicated that more than a third of tweets were intended to share information and promote PrEP to people of color. Less than half of tweets contained any HBM concepts, and only a few contained cues to action. Lastly, while our sample included only tweets relevant to women, we found that the tweets directed to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) audiences received the highest levels of audience engagement.ConclusionsThese findings point to several areas for improvement in future social media campaigns directed at women about PrEP. First, future posts would benefit from including more theoretical constructs, such as self-efficacy and cues to action. Second, organizations posting on Twitter should continue to broaden their audience and followers to reach more people. Lastly, tweets should leverage the momentum and strategies used by the LGBTQ community to reach broader audiences and destigmatize PrEP use across all communities.

Dataset Information

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--a quantitative ethics appraisal.

Publications

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--a quantitative ethics appraisal.

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