The Associations of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Interest and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Young Black Women

The uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is low among young Black cisgender heterosexual women, although this subgroup faces a higher burden of new HIV diagnoses. This study explored the association between sexual risk and prevention behaviors, and oral PrEP and vaginal PrEP ring interest among young Black women (YBW). A sample of YBW (N = 208) 18-25 years of age completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing sexual risk and prevention behaviors, HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, and PrEP interest from June to December 2018. Results revealed that 103 YBW were interested in taking oral or vaginal PrEP, with 43% interested in oral PrEP use only, 28% interested in vaginal PrEP use only, and 29% interested in both oral and vaginal PrEP use. Logistic regressions revealed that YBW who had sex in the last 1-4 weeks or 3-6 months had lower odds of being interested in oral PrEP and YBW who had sex in the last 1-4 weeks had lower odds of being interested in vaginal PrEP compared with those whose last sexual encounter occurred in the last week. A large percentage of our sample was unaware of PrEP at the time of survey administration, but after learning about PrEP became more interested in potential PrEP use. This indicates that more education about the benefits of PrEP coupled with harm reduction counseling to lower their risk of STI and HIV infections is necessary to increase PrEP interest among YBW.