eprintid: 12021 rev_number: 23 userid: 766 dir: disk0/00/01/20/21 datestamp: 2012-06-29 16:15:02 lastmod: 2016-11-15 13:57:55 status_changed: 2012-06-29 16:15:02 type: thesis_degree succeeds: 11725 metadata_visibility: show contact_email: emoshaun24@gmail.com item_issues_id: duplicate_title_11725 item_issues_id: thesis_degree_versioning item_issues_type: duplicate_title item_issues_type: thesis_degree_versioning item_issues_description: Duplicate title to Evans, Emerson Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Black/African American Men who have Sex with Men on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh. item_issues_description: ETD 12021 is using versioning. item_issues_timestamp: 2012-04-27 06:10:42 item_issues_timestamp: 2013-09-11 17:48:08 item_issues_status: autoresolved item_issues_status: discovered item_issues_count: 1 eprint_status: archive creators_name: Evans, Emerson creators_email: ebe7@pitt.edu creators_id: EBE7 title: Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Black/African American Men who have Sex with Men on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis ispublished: unpub divisions: sch_gsph_infectiousdiseasesmicrobiology full_text_status: public keywords: HIV, HIV Prevention, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, Black/African American, MSM, Gay/Bisexual, PrEP abstract: Background: African American men who have sex with men (MSM) represent 37% of the HIV incidence among all MSM and young Black MSM observed a significant increase of 48% in new infections during 2006-2009. There were 6,500 infections in Black MSM aged 13-29 exceeding the number of infections of White MSM aged 13-29 and 30-39 combined. In 2010, results from the Global iPrEX clinical trial showed 44% efficacy of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis among MSM. The implementation of PrEP as a HIV prevention tool may have positive implications in reducing the disparity of HIV infection among Black MSM. Methods: Participants were recruited and sampled for an online survey using the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Eligibility for participation was contingent upon self-reported response as Black/African American, an MSM, HIV negative or unaware of HIV status, and over 18 years of age. Informed consent was obtained. Behavioral data was collected from participants on sexual behaviors, HIV testing, and self-perceived susceptibility to HIV infection. Participants were asked specifically their knowledge of PrEP and likeliness of using PrEP to reduce risk of HIV infection. Results: The sample pre-eligibility included 178 respondents. 20.5% (32) respondents reported being HIV positive. After eligibility was determined 99 respondents were included in the analysis. 56.4% of the sample reported having little or no knowledge of PrEP yet would use PrEP to reduce their risk of HIV infection. Age was the strongest indicator of all the independent variables on PrEP acceptance being statistically significant in all models of the regression analysis. Conclusions: Contrary to the original hypothesis, an inverse relationship between PrEP knowledge and acceptance was ascertained in the current study. Some possible explanations for this interesting finding are that respondents were unaware of the risks and benefits of pre-exposure prophylaxis and were concerned about preventing themselves from contracting HIV. Also if respondents were to use PrEP, it would likely have to be at little or no individual out of pocket costs. There are a number of factors influencing such high acceptance of PrEP among Black MSM and the current study was able to ascertain some of these factors. These findings have public health significance to the current epidemiology of HIV infection in the United States and further prevention efforts. date: 2012-06-29 date_type: published pages: 71 institution: University of Pittsburgh refereed: TRUE etdcommittee_type: committee_chair etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_name: Beatty, Rodger etdcommittee_name: Frank, Linda etdcommittee_name: Keane, Christopher etdcommittee_email: rbear3@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: frankie@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: crkcity@pitt.edu etdcommittee_id: RBEAR3 etdcommittee_id: FRANKIE etdcommittee_id: CRKCITY etd_defense_date: 2012-04-16 etd_approval_date: 2012-06-29 etd_submission_date: 2012-04-05 etd_release_date: 2012-06-29 etd_access_restriction: immediate etd_patent_pending: FALSE assigned_doi: doi:10.5195/pitt.etd.2012.11725 thesis_type: thesis degree: MPH citation: Evans, Emerson (2012) Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Black/African American Men who have Sex with Men on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished) document_url: http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/12021/1/Emerson_Evans_Pitt_ETD_april_25.pdf