Awareness and Willingness to Use HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Introduction: To facilitate provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), a better understanding of potential demand and user preferences is required. This review assessed awareness and willingness to use oral PrEP among men who have sex with men (MSM) in LMIC.
Methods: Electronic literature search of Cochrane library, Embase, PubMed, PsychINFO, CINHAL, Web of Science, and Google Scholar was conducted between July and September 2016. Reference lists of relevant studies were searched, and three authors contacted for additional data. Non-peer reviewed publications were excluded. Studies were screened for inclusion, and relevant data abstracted, assessed for bias, and synthesized.
Results: In total, 2186 records were identified, of which 23 studies involving 14,040 MSM from LMIC were included. The proportion of MSM who were aware of PrEP was low at 29.7% (95% CI: 16.9-44.3). However, the proportion willing to use PrEP was higher, at 64.4% (95% CI: 53.3-74.8). Proportions of MSM aware of PrEP was
Conclusions: This review found that despite low levels of awareness of PrEP, MSM in LMIC are willing to use it if they are supported appropriately to deal with a range of individual, social, and structural barriers
