TY - JOUR
T1 - Awareness, acceptability, and intention to initiate HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among pregnant women
AU - Scott, Rachel K.
AU - Hull, Shawnika J.
AU - Richards, Robin C.
AU - Klemmer, Kristen
AU - Salmoran, Frida
AU - Huang, Jim C.
N1 - Funding Information: Research support was provided by MedStar Washington Hospital Center Graduate Medical Education [grant number: N/A]. The non-pregnant comparison group referenced is from an investigator-sponsored research award from Gilead Sciences [grant number: ISR-17-10227]. Research reported in this publication was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1K01DA050496-01A1. The authors would like to thank Patricia Moriarty, Patricia Tanjutco, and Ron Migues for their administrative support, as well as MedStar Gradulate Medical Education. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - HIV prevention is critically important during pregnancy, however, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is underutilized. We conducted a survey of pregnant and non-pregnant women in a high HIV prevalence community in Washington D.C. to evaluate determinants of PrEP initiation during pregnancy. 201 pregnant women and a reference population of 1103 non-pregnant women completed the survey. Among pregnant women, mean age was 26.9 years; the majority were Black with household-incomes below the federal poverty level. Despite low perceived risk of HIV acquisition and low prior awareness of PrEP, 10.5% of respondents planned to initiate PrEP during pregnancy. Pregnant women identified safety, efficacy, and social network and medical provider support as key factors in PrEP uptake intention. The belief that PrEP will “protect (their) baby from HIV” was associated with PrEP uptake intention during pregnancy. Concerns regarding maternal/fetal side effects, and safety in pregnancy or while breastfeeding were not identified as deterrents to uptake intention. When compared to a nonpregnant sample, there were no significant differences in uptake intention between the two samples. These findings support the need for prenatal educational interventions to promote HIV prevention during pregnancy, as well as interventions that center on the role of providers in the provision of PrEP.
AB - HIV prevention is critically important during pregnancy, however, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is underutilized. We conducted a survey of pregnant and non-pregnant women in a high HIV prevalence community in Washington D.C. to evaluate determinants of PrEP initiation during pregnancy. 201 pregnant women and a reference population of 1103 non-pregnant women completed the survey. Among pregnant women, mean age was 26.9 years; the majority were Black with household-incomes below the federal poverty level. Despite low perceived risk of HIV acquisition and low prior awareness of PrEP, 10.5% of respondents planned to initiate PrEP during pregnancy. Pregnant women identified safety, efficacy, and social network and medical provider support as key factors in PrEP uptake intention. The belief that PrEP will “protect (their) baby from HIV” was associated with PrEP uptake intention during pregnancy. Concerns regarding maternal/fetal side effects, and safety in pregnancy or while breastfeeding were not identified as deterrents to uptake intention. When compared to a nonpregnant sample, there were no significant differences in uptake intention between the two samples. These findings support the need for prenatal educational interventions to promote HIV prevention during pregnancy, as well as interventions that center on the role of providers in the provision of PrEP.
KW - Behavioral intention
KW - HIV prevention
KW - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
KW - Integrated Model of Behavior Prediction
KW - high prevalence
KW - pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
KW - pregnancy
KW - psychosocial determinants
KW - reasoned action approach
KW - women
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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2021.1916870
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2021.1916870
M3 - Article
C2 - 33874801
SN - 0954-0121
VL - 34
SP - 201
EP - 213
JO - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
JF - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
IS - 2
ER -