Publication Cover
AIDS Care
Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
Volume 35, 2023 - Issue 4
243
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Providing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis to men who have sex with men and transgender women in hospitals and community-led clinics in Thailand: acceptance, patterns of use, trends in risk behaviors, and HIV incidence

, , , , , , , , , , , , & show all
Pages 524-537 | Received 05 Jan 2022, Accepted 13 Dec 2022, Published online: 01 Feb 2023
 

ABSTRACT

From May 2015 to June 2018, we conducted a PrEP demonstration project at two hospitals and four community-led clinics in Bangkok and Pattaya. HIV-negative, MSM and TGW aged ≥18 years old, reporting sex without a condom, were offered daily PrEP. Participants received HIV testing and completed a computer-based questionnaire at enrollment, 6 and 12 months. We collected self-reported PrEP adherence at months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. We used logistic regression to determine factors associated with the decision to take PrEP and calculated HIV incidence among baseline HIV-negative participants. Of 803 participants enrolled, 349 (43.5%) started PrEP. Participants were more likely to start PrEP if they were sex workers, had moderate or high self-perceived risk of HIV, or a high PrEP-knowledge score. Participants used PrEP for a median of 6.1 months. Reported condom use increased and the number of sex partners decreased during follow-up regardless of PrEP use. Six participants not-taking PrEP acquired HIV (HIV incidence 2.2 per 100 person-years), and five taking PrEP acquired HIV (HIV incidence 2.1 per 100 person-years). All five reported taking <4 pills the weeks before study visits.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Ravipa Vannakit, Marta Ackers, and Thierry Roels for their continued support to this manuscript. We sincerely thank participants and health care providers for their participation, dedication, and support throughout this demonstration project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

PEPFAR attribution of support

The PrEP project was supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.