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Awareness, knowledge, and attitudes related to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and other prevention strategies among physicians from Brazil and Mexico: cross-sectional web-based survey

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dc.contributor.author Vega-Ramirez, Hamid
dc.contributor.author Torres, Thiago S.
dc.contributor.author Guillen-Diaz, Centli
dc.contributor.author Pimenta, Cristina
dc.contributor.author Diaz-Sosa, Dulce
dc.contributor.author Konda, Kelika A.
dc.contributor.author da Cunha, Alessandro Ricardo Caruso
dc.contributor.author Robles-Garcia, Rebeca
dc.contributor.author Benedetti, Marcos
dc.contributor.author Hoagland, Brenda
dc.contributor.author Bezerra, Daniel R.B.
dc.contributor.author Caceres Palacios, Carlos Fernando
dc.contributor.author Grinsztejn, Beatriz
dc.contributor.author Veloso, ValdileaG.
dc.contributor.author ImPrEP Study Group
dc.date.accessioned 2022-06-01T13:53:55Z
dc.date.available 2022-06-01T13:53:55Z
dc.date.issued 2022
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12866/11710
dc.description.abstract Background: In order to end the HIV epidemic by 2030, combination HIV prevention including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be widely available, especially for the most vulnerable populations. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), only 14 out of 46 countries have access to PrEP. In Brazil and Mexico, PrEP has been provided at no cost through the Public Health System since 2017 and 2021, respectively. Thus, HIV physicians’ perspectives about PrEP and other prevention strategies may differ. This study aimed to compare awareness, knowledge, and attitudes related to PrEP and other prevention strategies among HIV physicians from Brazil and Mexico. Methods: Cross-sectional, web-based survey targeting physicians who prescribe antiretrovirals from both countries. Participants answered questions on socio-demographic, medical experience, awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards PrEP and other HIV prevention strategies. We stratified all variables per country and compared frequencies using Chi-square, Fisher exact, and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests, as appropriate. Results: From January–October 2020, 481 HIV physicians were included: 339(70.5%) from Brazil, 276(57.4%) male, and median age was 43 years (IQR = 36–53). Awareness of PrEP did not differ between Brazil and Mexico (84.6%), while awareness of other prevention strategies, including post-exposure prophylaxis and new PrEP technologies, was higher in Brazil. More Brazilians perceived U=U as completely accurate compared to Mexicans (74.0% vs. 62.0%, P <.001). Willingness to prescribe PrEP was 74.2%, higher among Brazilians (78.2%, P =.01). Overall, participants had concerns about consistent access to PrEP medication and the risk of antiretroviral resistance in case of acute HIV infection or seroconversion. The main barriers reported were assumptions that users could have low PrEP knowledge (62.0%) or limited capacity for adherence (59.0%). Compared to Brazilians, Mexicans reported more concerns and barriers to PrEP prescription (all; P ≤.05), except for consistent access to PrEP medication and the lack of professionals to prescribe PrEP (both; P ≤.01). Conclusions: Although awareness of PrEP was similar in Brazil and Mexico, differences in knowledge and attitudes may reflect the availability and stage of PrEP implementation in these countries. Strengthening and increasing information on PrEP technologies and other HIV prevention strategies among HIV physicians could improve their comfort to prescribe these strategies and facilitate their scale-up in LAC. en_US
dc.language.iso eng
dc.publisher BioMed Central
dc.relation.ispartofseries BMC Health Services Research
dc.rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es
dc.subject Pre-exposure prophylaxis en_US
dc.subject Post-exposure prophylaxis en_US
dc.subject HIV en_US
dc.subject Physicians en_US
dc.subject U=U slogan en_US
dc.subject Treatment as prevention en_US
dc.subject Brazil en_US
dc.subject Mexico en_US
dc.subject Latin America en_US
dc.title Awareness, knowledge, and attitudes related to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and other prevention strategies among physicians from Brazil and Mexico: cross-sectional web-based survey en_US
dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07900-y
dc.relation.issn 1472-6963


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