Discomfort discussing HIV/AIDS and lack of awareness are barriers to partner-to-partner pre-exposure prophylaxis education

Abstract

We suggest that people living with HIV (PLWH) may serve as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) educators for partners when informed about PrEP. Participants in this study were a convenience sample of PLWH at a public hospital in Miami. A cross-sectional survey assessed the frequency of serostatus disclosure, PrEP awareness, and willingness to recommend PrEP to intimate partners. To evaluate stigma surrounding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), comfort discussing HIV with family, friends and intimate partners was interrogated. Surveys were completed by 137 participants; 39.5% had potentially sero-discordant sexual partners. Among respondents, 29.2% reported that they ‘occasionally’ or ‘never’ disclose HIV status to sexual partners. In all, 66.4% of patients reported that they had never heard of PrEP. After being educated about PrEP, 86.0% of respondents reported that they would encourage partners to use it. Participants were asked how often the subject of HIV comes up in conversations. Most indicated that ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ does it come up with friends and family; 46.1% indicated that ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ does it come up with partners. In bivariate analyses, participants with prior awareness of PrEP were more likely to indicate higher frequency of conversations regarding HIV with intimate partners. It is concluded that interventions which utilize partner education to increase PrEP uptake should address stigma and knowledge among other barriers.