Post-exposure prophylaxis awareness and use among men who have sex with men in London who use geosocial-networking smartphone applications

ABSTRACT

The number of new HIV infections continues to be on the rise in many high-income countries, most notably among men who have sex with men (MSM). Despite recent attention to the use of antiretroviral medications as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among MSM, considerably less research has been devoted to examining the awareness and use of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Based on a convenience sample of 179 self-reported HIV-uninfected MSM using a geosocial-networking smartphone application, this study is among the first to examine the awareness and use of PEP and their demographic and behavioral correlates among MSM in London. Most respondents (88.3%) had heard of PEP, where 27.4% reported having used it. In multivariable models, the disclosure of one’s sexual orientation to their general practitioner (Prevalence ratio [PR]: 3.49; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 10.70; p = .029) and reporting one’s HIV status as negative (rather than unknown) (PR: 11.49; 95% CI: 1.68, 76.92; p = .013) were associated with having heard of PEP; while the recent use of club drugs (PR: 3.02; 95% CI: 1.42, 6.43; p = .004) was associated with having ever used PEP. High awareness and use in this sample suggest that PEP is a valuable risk-reduction strategy that should be capitalized on, be it in addition to or in the absence of PrEP.

KEYWORDS:

• Men who have sex with men (MSM)
• post-exposure prophylaxis
• United Kingdom
• smartphone application

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Noah Kreski for conducting background literature reviews for this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

William C. Goedel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2869-1048

Dustin T. Duncan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8586-8711

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the New York University College of Arts and Science Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund (Principal Investigator: William C. Goedel) and Dr Dustin Duncan’s New York University School of Medicine Start-Up Research Fund. Daniel Hagen was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the New York University College of Global Public Health. Dr Dustin Duncan was supported by a New York University School of Medicine Start-Up Research Fund to work on this project.