HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), in which HIV-negative individuals receive antiretroviral medications to prevent HIV acquisition, has shown potential as a means to reduce HIV incidence among high-risk persons. The acceptability of PrEP among at-risk persons will strongly impact the effectiveness of PrEP. This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes towards PrEP within a demographically-mixed community with high HIV prevalence

Brusalis, Christopher

Calderon, Yvette

Cowan, Ethan

Leider, Jason

Mantell, Joanne E.

Sandfort, Theo

Retrovirology

PubMed

Yvette Calderon

Jason Leider

Ethan Cowan

Christopher Brusalis

Joanne Mantell

Theo Sandfort

Crossref

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)- knowledge and attitudes among a New York City emergency department patient population

Columbia University Academic Commons

POSTER PRESENTATION Open AccessHIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)- knowledgeand attitudes among a New York City emergencydepartment patient populationYvette Calderon1*, Jason Leider1, Ethan Cowan1, Christopher Brusalis2, Joanne Mantell3, Theo Sandfort1From 17th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases (ISHEID)Marseille, France. 23-25 May 2012BackgroundHIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), in which HIV-nega-tive individuals receive antiretroviral medications to pre-vent HIV acquisition, has shown potential as a means toreduce HIV incidence among high-risk persons. Theacceptability of PrEP among at-risk persons will stronglyimpact the effectiveness of PrEP. This study aimed toassess knowledge and attitudes towards PrEP within ademographically-mixed community with high HIVprevalence.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with a conveniencesample of Emergency Department (ED) patients at twoNew York City municipal hospitals. Eligible participantscompleted an anonymous written survey about knowledgeand acceptability of PrEP. Means and standard deviationswere calculated for continuous variables and proportionsfor categorical variables. Standard bivariate methods wereused to compare acceptability and knowledge by race, eth-nicity and gender.Results474 ED patients agreed to participate. The study popula-tion was 40.9% male, 40.7% Latino and 38.2% non-Hispa-nic Black. 7 participants (1.5%) self-identified as MSM.Mean age was 35.3, SD +/- 13.1 years. 66.4% reportedinconsistent condom use and 78.4% had previously had anHIV test. 13.3% reported knowledge of either the term“PrEP” or the use of antiretroviral medications to preventHIV acquisition. More people indicated they were unlikelyor extremely unlikely to use PrEP (40.1%) than indicatedthey would likely take PrEP if available (32.2%). Many(27.7%) were unsure if they would or would not take PrEP.44.4% thought that individuals would stop using condomsif on PrEP, while 27.0% thought that individuals wouldcontinue using them. Some participants (28.4%) incor-rectly thought that PrEP needed to be taken only prior tosex. There were no differences in knowledge or acceptabil-ity of PrEP by gender. Latinos were more likely (17.6%)than blacks (8.8%) and others (12.4%) to report knowledgeof PrEP.ConclusionsPotential providers of PrEP must consider limitations inacceptability to this HIV prevention strategy. Futureadministration of PrEP must incorporate patient educa-tion to ensure user understanding of the technology andits potential limitations.Author details1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA. 2Jacobi MedicalCenter, Bronx, New York, USA. 3Columbia University, New York, New York,USA.Published: 25 May 2012doi:10.1186/1742-4690-9-S1-P94Cite this article as: Calderon et al.: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-knowledge and attitudes among a New York City emergencydepartment patient population. Retrovirology 2012 9(Suppl 1):P94.* Correspondence: ycal333@yahoo.com1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USAFull list of author information is available at the end of the articleCalderon et al. Retrovirology 2012, 9(Suppl 1):P94http://www.retrovirology.com/content/9/S1/P94© 2012 Calderon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)- knowledge
and attitudes among a New York City emergency
department patient population
Yvette Calderon1*, Jason Leider1, Ethan Cowan1, Christopher Brusalis2, Joanne Mantell3, Theo Sandfort1
From 17th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases (ISHEID)
Marseille, France. 23-25 May 2012
Background
HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), in which HIV-nega-
tive individuals receive antiretroviral medications to pre-
vent HIV acquisition, has shown potential as a means to
reduce HIV incidence among high-risk persons. The
acceptability of PrEP among at-risk persons will strongly
impact the effectiveness of PrEP. This study aimed to
assess knowledge and attitudes towards PrEP within a
demographically-mixed community with high HIV
prevalence.
Materials and methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience
sample of Emergency Department (ED) patients at two
New York City municipal hospitals. Eligible participants
completed an anonymous written survey about knowledge
and acceptability of PrEP. Means and standard deviations
were calculated for continuous variables and proportions
for categorical variables. Standard bivariate methods were
used to compare acceptability and knowledge by race, eth-
nicity and gender.
Results
474 ED patients agreed to participate. The study popula-
tion was 40.9% male, 40.7% Latino and 38.2% non-Hispa-
nic Black. 7 participants (1.5%) self-identified as MSM.
Mean age was 35.3, SD +/- 13.1 years. 66.4% reported
inconsistent condom use and 78.4% had previously had an
HIV test. 13.3% reported knowledge of either the term
“PrEP” or the use of antiretroviral medications to prevent
HIV acquisition. More people indicated they were unlikely
or extremely unlikely to use PrEP (40.1%) than indicated
they would likely take PrEP if available (32.2%). Many
(27.7%) were unsure if they would or would not take PrEP.
44.4% thought that individuals would stop using condoms
if on PrEP, while 27.0% thought that individuals would
continue using them. Some participants (28.4%) incor-
rectly thought that PrEP needed to be taken only prior to
sex. There were no differences in knowledge or acceptabil-
ity of PrEP by gender. Latinos were more likely (17.6%)
than blacks (8.8%) and others (12.4%) to report knowledge
of PrEP.
Conclusions
Potential providers of PrEP must consider limitations in
acceptability to this HIV prevention strategy. Future
administration of PrEP must incorporate patient educa-
tion to ensure user understanding of the technology and
its potential limitations.
Author details
1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA. 2Jacobi Medical
Center, Bronx, New York, USA. 3Columbia University, New York, New York,
USA.
Published: 25 May 2012
doi:10.1186/1742-4690-9-S1-P94
Cite this article as: Calderon et al.: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-
knowledge and attitudes among a New York City emergency
department patient population. Retrovirology 2012 9(Suppl 1):P94.
* Correspondence: ycal333@yahoo.com
1Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Calderon et al. Retrovirology 2012, 9(Suppl 1):P94
http://www.retrovirology.com/content/9/S1/P94
© 2012 Calderon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D84M9G0P/download

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)- knowledge and attitudes among a New York City emergency department patient population

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