Factors associated with willingness to take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) among high-risk adolescent boys and young men in Masese fishing community, Uganda

Winnie Agwang; Joanita Nangendo; Sherifah Nabikande; Tom Okello; Joan Tusabe; Fred C Semitala; Simon Kasasa; Joseph K B Matovu

doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0001191

Factors associated with willingness to take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) among high-risk adolescent boys and young men in Masese fishing community, Uganda

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Jun 8;3(6):e0001191. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001191. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Winnie Agwang¹, Joanita Nangendo², Sherifah Nabikande¹, Tom Okello², Joan Tusabe¹, Fred C Semitala^{3

4}, Simon Kasasa¹, Joseph K B Matovu^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
² Clinical Epidemiology Unit, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Makerere University Joint AIDS Program, Kampala, Uganda.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Busitema University, Mbale, Uganda.

Abstract

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a known HIV prevention strategy for high-risk populations however, some high-risk communities have not yet fully embraced it. We sought to determine willingness to take PrEP and the associated factors among high-risk adolescent boys and young men (ABYM) in Masese fishing community, Jinja district, Eastern Uganda. We conducted a cross-sectional study, between October and November 2020, using a semi-structured questionnaire among ABYM aged 10-24 years in Masese fishing community, Eastern Uganda. We surveyed 479 participants, who had two or more sexual partners with inconsistent or no condom use. We carried out modified Poisson regression analysis to determine factors associated with willingness to take PrEP.Of 479 high-risk ABYM, 86.4% (n = 414) were willing to take PrEP. Confidence in PrEP safety (adj.PR = 1.56; 95%CI: 1.55, 2.24), availability of PrEP in areas easily accessible by ABYM (adj.PR = 1.40; 95%CI: 1.25, 1.57), and perceiving oneself as being at a very high risk of HIV infection (adj.PR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.03, 1.20) were positively associated with willingness to take PrEP. On the other hand, being unmarried (adj.PR = 0.92; 95%CI: 0.87, 0.98) and earning more than USD 27 a month (adj.PR = 0.92; 95%CI: 0.87, 0.97) were negatively associated with willingness to take PrEP. There was high willingness to take PrEP among adolescent boys and young men in Masese fishing community. Confidence in PrEP safety, access to PrEP in their community and self-perception to be at high risk for HIV acquisition had a positive bearing on willingness to take PrEP while being unmarried and earning more than USD27 had a negative bearing on willingness to take PrEP. These findings suggest a need for target-specific interventions for unmarried men and those earning >USD27.

Copyright: © 2023 Agwang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Grants and funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty international centre, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of mental Health, of the National Institutes of Health under award number D43TW011304. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. WA received the funding. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.