Willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention among sexual partners of HIV-infected patients

ObjectiveTo evaluate potential acceptance of pre-exposure prophylaxis(PrEP) among sexual partners of human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-infected patients in western China,and to investigate demographic characteristics and sexual relationships among the partners with different levels of acceptance.MethodsA cross-sectional study with a snowball sampling method was conducted from July 2009 to April 2010.Totally 473 sexual partners of HIV-infected patients,recruited from Sichuan province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,completed a self-administered questionnaire about awareness and use intention of PrEP.ResultsThe average score of PrEP use was 4.16?1.23 among the subjects and 57.29%(271/473)of the subjects reported the intention to use PrEP.The multivariable analysis indicated that significant predictors of PrEP use intention were sexually transmitted infection(STI) history and worried about HIV infection of family members.The partners with STI history were more likely to use PrEP(odds ratio OR=1.758,95%confidence interval CI:=1.095-2.821).Compared with those not worrying about HIV infection of family member,the subjects very worrying(OR=3.086,95%CI:1.304-7.304),and a little worrying about HIV infection of family member(OR=2.867,95% CI :1.301-6.317) were more likely to use PrEP.ConclusionThe majority of sexual partners of HIV-infected patients showed intention to use PrEP.