Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness, attitudes and uptake willingness among young people: gender differences and associated factors in two South African districts

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the sample by PrEP awareness

	Total		PrEP awareness	No PrEP awareness
	n/N	%	%	%	p-value
Gender: Female (vs male)	940/1843	51.0	49.0	51.0	<0.0001
Age: 18–21 (vs 22–24)	865/1823	47.5	47.3	47.5	0.935
In-school (vs out of school)	1018/1843	55.2	54.7	55.6	0.694
Social club member	756/1816	41.6	45.0	39.0	0.010
Social grant recipient	302/1829	16.5	17.3	15.9	0.428
Living in OR Tambo	906/1853	48.9	44.9	52.1	0.002
Have HIV knowledge	803/1785	45.0	41.7	47.7	0.011
Have TB Knowledge	1233/1708	72.2	74.9	70.0	0.027
Condom use at last sex	1111/1516	73.3	73.8	72.9	0.686

Table 2. PrEP awareness, attitudes and practices by gender (N = 1955)

	Total n/N	%	Male %	Female %	p-value
PrEP awareness	822/1853	44.4	39.4	49.0	<0.001
PrEP willingness	899/1834	49.0	48.1	50.0	0.418
PrEP distribution channels
Private doctor	1476/1917	23.0	21.9	24.1	0.246
Hospital	457/1917	23.8	22.1	25.6	0.074
Clinic	936/1917	51.2	49.4	52.9	0.127
School	189/1917	9.9	11.9	7.8	0.002
Community health workers	228/1917	11.9	12.2	11.6	0.733
Non-governmental organisation (NGO)	133/1917	6.9	8.5	5.4	0.008
Traditional healer	20/1917	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.987
Mobile clinic	137/1917	7.2	8.0	6.3	0.169
Family member	38/1917	2.0	2.5	1.5	0.097
Other	16/1917	0.8	1.1	0.6	0.308
Reasons for not using PrEP
Possible side effects	132/333	39.6	41.3	37.7	0.494
No adequate knowledge	189/333	56.8	53.1	61.0	0.143
Does not want family to know it	49/333	14.7	16.8	12.3	0.256
Fear to be more sexually active	47/333	14.1	13.4	14.9	0.690
Does not want a pill every day	58/333	17.4	21.8	12.3	0.023
Possibility of riskier life like not using a condom	36/333	10.8	11.7	9.7	0.560
Things to know to decide to use PrEP
Side effects	980/1917	51.1	47.2	55.0	0.001
Place to get the pill	594/1917	31.0	30.4	31.6	0.559
Person who gives the medicine	323/1917	16.9	17.3	16.4	0.618
Duration of taking the pill	590/1917	30.8	29.2	32.3	0.140
How well the pill works	566/1917	29.5	26.4	32.6	0.003
How often the pill is to be taken	316/1917	16.5	14.7	18.3	0.032
Cost of the pill	461/1917	24.1	23.8	24.3	0.776
How the pill is taken	360/1917	18.8	17.7	19.9	0.226
Young people’s preferred information channels about PrEP
Newspapers	658/1917	34.3	33.1	35.6	0.256
Billboard adverts	449/1917	23.4	24.6	22.3	0.222
School visits	967/1917	50.4	49.7	51.1	0.538
Television (TV) adverts	1123/1917	58.6	60.8	56.3	0.046
Brochures at health facilities	525/1917	27.4	26.4	28.4	0.328
Social media e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp	909/1917	47.4	45.5	49.4	0.085

Table 3. Factors associated with having PrEP awareness

	Nkangala		OR Tambo
Factors	aOR	95% CI	aOR	95% CI
Gender: Female	1.56	1.08–2.26	1.75	1.22–2.51
Watching television frequently (vs never)	0.52	0.31–0.88	NS
Listening to the radio frequently (vs never)	3.1	1.73–5.57	2.13	1.48–3.05
Listening to the radio occasionally (vs never)	NS		2.18	1.43–3.33
Using social networking platforms	NS		2.28	1.22–4.27
Using WhatsApp frequently	1.62	1.21–2.16	NS
Multiple sexual partners (3+)	NS		1.62	1.10–2.37
Willingness to self-test for HIV	0.66	0.50–0.88
Having HIV knowledge	NS		0.65	0.45–0.94
Social club membership	NS		1.63	1.13–2.35

Table 4. Factors associated with willingness to use PrEP

	Nkangala		OR Tambo
Factors	aOR	95% CI	aOR	95% CI
Having TB knowledge	1.89	1.31–2.72	2.73	1.67–4.49
Having PrEP awareness	1.83	1.29–2.60	2.95	2.00–4.36
Accepting attitudes towards people with TB	1.76	1.18–2.62	NS
Listening to the radio frequently (vs never)	0.49	0.26–0.91	NS
Being a student	1.45	1.02–2.06	NS
Use of WhatsApp frequently	NS		1.80	1.14–2.84
Unwilling to self-test for HIV	NS		0.61	0.45–0.84