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“Sex without fear”: exploring the psychosocial impact of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on gay men in England

Hayes, R; Nutland, W; Rayment, M; Wayal, S; Apea, V; Clarke, A; McOwan, A; ... Gafos, M; + view all (2023) “Sex without fear”: exploring the psychosocial impact of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on gay men in England. AIDS Research and Therapy , 20 (1) , Article 81. 10.1186/s12981-023-00568-2. Green open access

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Abstract

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) experience a high prevalence of psychosocial health problems, such as harmful substance use and depression, as well as being disproportionately affected by HIV. HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) may provide psychosocial benefits beyond its intended purpose of reducing HIV infection. We explore the psychosocial impact of oral PrEP use on gay men in England using qualitative data from the PROUD study. From February 2014 to January 2016, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 gay men and one trans woman. Participants were purposively recruited based on trial arm allocation, adherence, and sexual risk behaviours. By removing HIV risk from sex, PrEP improves users’ wellbeing by reducing HIV-related anxiety and internalised stigma and increasing HIV prevention self-efficacy, sexual pleasure, and intimacy. In turn, these psychological changes may influence behaviour in the form of greater sexual freedom, reduced harmful drug use, and more protective sexual health behaviours. However, PrEP may create internal conflict for some gay men, due to its disruption of social norms around condom use and its perceived influence on their sexual behaviour leading to reduced condom self-efficacy. These findings provide a baseline of PrEP’s psychosocial impact amongst some of the first PrEP users in England and supports calls to consider the psychosocial impact of PrEP in prescribing guidelines.

Type: Article
Title: “Sex without fear”: exploring the psychosocial impact of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on gay men in England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s12981-023-00568-2
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-023-00568-2
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 BioMed Central Ltd. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: HIV prevention, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, Gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men, Psychosocial impact, Sexual anxiety
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Practice and Policy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10181990
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