Willingness to use PrEP among PrEP naïve men who have sex with men: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to measure the pooled estimate of willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (WTUP) among PrEP-naïve United States (U.S.)-based men who have sex with men (MSM). PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched. The search strategy contained the keyword willingness and interest and the MeSH terms for HIV and PrEP. Articles were included if they were published between January 2005 and May 2022, reported quantitative data on WTUP among PrEP-naïve US-based MSM, and were available as full text in English. Meta-analysis was conducted to assess the pooled effect size of WTUP prevalence using a random-effects model, heterogeneity in the pooled estimate was assessed, and subgroup analyzes were conducted. Fifteen studies were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis revealed a pooled prevalence proportion for WTUP of 0.58 (95% CI 0.54–0.61) (or 58 out of 100) among PrEP-naïve MSM. High inter-study heterogeneity (Q = 548.10, df = 19, p < 0.01, I²= 96.53, τ²= 0.09) was observed. Age of the study sample and region where the data were collected significantly moderated the pooled WTUP estimate. Age-appropriate PrEP related messaging and a focus on HIV priority areas of the U.S. would be important strategies to improve WTUP among MSM in the U.S. moving forward.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• pre-exposure prophylaxis
• MSM
• willingness

Disclosure statement

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

Competing interests

Dr. Bentley reports grants and personal fees from Pharmacy Quality Alliance, outside the submitted work. The other study authors have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships to declare that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, S. G., upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was not supported by any specific grant from a funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.