A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of a Culturally-Tailored Counseling Intervention to Increase Uptake of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in Washington, DC
Aimee Desrosiers, Matthew Levy, Aurnell Dright, Maria Zumer, Nikardi Jallah, Irene Kuo, Manya Magnus, Marc Siegel, Aimee Desrosiers, Matthew Levy, Aurnell Dright, Maria Zumer, Nikardi Jallah, Irene Kuo, Manya Magnus, Marc Siegel
Abstract
Daily emtricitabine/tenofovor is effective at preventing HIV acquisition and is approved for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Blacks in the United States have a disproportionately high rate of HIV, and uptake of PrEP has been very low in this population. We conducted a pilot study in a high-prevalence city to test whether a culturally-tailored counseling center for young Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) positively impacted their access and uptake of PrEP. 50 young BMSM were randomized to either a PrEP counseling center group or a control group, and were then encouraged to obtain PrEP from a PrEP provider. At the end of 3 month study, six participants in the intervention group compared with none in the control group had initiated PrEP (p = 0.02). This pilot study demonstrates that a culturally-tailored counseling center might be an effective at increasing the uptake of PrEP in young BMSM.
Keywords: Black men who have sex with men; Counseling; HIV; Preexposure prophylaxis.
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Source: PubMed