Dataset Information

The Rhythm of Risk: Sexual Behaviour, PrEP Use and HIV Risk Perception Between 1999 and 2018 Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

ABSTRACT: HIV risk perception plays a crucial role in the uptake of preventive strategies. We investigated how risk perception and its determinants changed between 1999 and 2018 in an open, prospective cohort of 1323 HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM). Risk perception, defined as the perceived likelihood of acquiring HIV in the past 6 months, changed over time: being relatively lower in 2008-2011, higher in 2012-2016, and again lower in 2017-2018. Irrespective of calendar year, condomless anal intercourse (AI) with casual partners and high numbers of partners were associated with higher risk perception. In 2017-2018, condomless receptive AI with a partner living with HIV was no longer associated with risk perception, while PrEP use and condomless AI with a steady partner were associated with lower risk perception. We showed that risk perception has fluctuated among MSM in the past 20 years. The Undetectable equals Untransmittable statement and PrEP coincided with lower perceived risk.

SUBMITTER: Basten M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8081694 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:There are still important gaps in our understanding of how people will incorporate PrEP into their existing HIV prevention strategies. In this paper, we explore how PrEP use impacted existing sexual risk behaviours and risk reduction strategies using qualitative data from the PROUD study. From February 2014 to January 2016, we conducted 41 in-depth interviews with gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) enrolled in the PROUD PrEP study at sexual health clinics in England. The interviews were conducted in English and were audio-recorded. The recordings were transcribed, coded and analysed using framework analysis. In the interviews, we explored participants' sexual behaviour before joining the study and among those using or who had used PrEP, changes to sexual behaviour after starting PrEP. Participants described the risk behaviour and management strategies before using PrEP, which included irregular condom use, sero-sorting, and strategic positioning. Participants described their sexual risk taking before initiating PrEP in the context of the sexualised use of drugs, geographical spaces linked with higher risk sexual norms, and digitised sexual networking, as well as problematic psychological factors that exacerbated risk taking. The findings highlight that in the main, individuals who were already having frequent condomless sex, added PrEP to the existing range of risk management strategies, influencing the boundaries of the 'rules' for some but not all. While approximately half the participants reduced other risk reduction strategies after starting PrEP, the other half did not alter their behaviours. PrEP provided an additional HIV prevention option to a cohort of GBMSM at high risk of HIV due to inconsistent use of other prevention options. In summary, PrEP provides a critical and necessary additional HIV prevention option that individuals can add to existing strategies in order to enhance protection, at least from HIV. As a daily pill, PrEP offers protection in the context of the sex cultures associated with sexualised drug use, digitised sexual applications and shifting social norms around sexual fulfilment and risk taking. PrEP can offer short or longer-term options for individuals as their sexual desires change over their life course offering protection from HIV during periods of heightened risk. PrEP should not be perceived or positioned in opposition to the existing HIV prevention toolkit, but rather as additive and as a tool that can and is having a substantial impact on HIV.

Project description:IntroductionEvent-driven pre-exposure prophylaxis (edPrEP) with oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC) is highly effective for preventing HIV acquisition in men who have sex with men (MSM) and is preferred over daily PrEP by some MSM. However, it is largely unknown how well MSM adhere to edPrEP. We then aimed to assess PrEP protection during CAS among MSM using edPrEP and participating in the Amsterdam PrEP demonstration project (AMPrEP).MethodsWe analysed data from participants enrolled in AMPrEP who were taking edPrEP. We measured adherence through (1) a mobile application in which sexual behaviour and PrEP-use were recorded daily, (2) three-monthly self-completed questionnaires and (3) dried blood spot (DBS) samples collected around six, twelve and twenty-four months after PrEP initiation. We assessed the proportion of days with condomless anal sex (CAS) acts that were protected by PrEP, per partner type (i.e. steady partners, known casual partners, unknown casual partners), and the proportion of three-month periods during which PrEP was correctly used. Intracellular TFV-diphosphate (TFV-DP) concentrations were determined from DBS. Good adherence was defined as at least one tablet before and one tablet within 48 hours after a CAS act.ResultsBetween 11 September 2015 and 6 October 2019, 182 of 376 MSM (48.4%) used edPrEP for at least one three-month period. Of the 8224 CAS days that were reported in the app during edPrEP-use, we observed good protection for most CAS days involving steady partners (n = 1625/2455, 66.9%), known casual partners (n = 3216/3472, 92.6%) and unknown casual partners (n = 2074/2297, 90.3%). Men reported consistently correct PrEP-use in 851 (81.4%) of the 1046 three-month periods of edPrEP-use. The median TFV-DP concentration was 591 fmol/sample (interquartile range = 270 to 896).ConclusionsAdherence to edPrEP was high as determined from the online app and questionnaire. DBS measurements were consistent with two to three tablets per week on average.

Dataset Information

The Rhythm of Risk: Sexual Behaviour, PrEP Use and HIV Risk Perception Between 1999 and 2018 Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets