Reporting pre-exposure prophylaxis use in Craigslist personal advertisements among men seeking sex with men in the United States
Brandon J. Hill A B D , Trevor Bak A , Alicia VandeVusse A and Kris Rosentel A CA Centre for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Ci3), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, 6030 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
B The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, 1165 E. 3rd Street, Morrison Hall 313, Bloomington, IN 47421, USA.
C School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: bhill2@bsd.uchicago.edu
Sexual Health 14(4) 397-400 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH16221
Submitted: 23 November 2016 Accepted: 9 March 2017 Published: 15 May 2017
Abstract
This study describes the self-reported use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the personal advertisements of men seeking sex with men in the United States on the online classified advertisement site, Craigslist. Overall self-reported PrEP use was low (0.20%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.18–0.22). However, PrEP use in personal ads was described in conjunction with seeking sexual risk behaviours including ‘bareback’ sex (22.7%; 95% CI = 17.7–27.7%) and sex with substance use (26.8%; 95% CI = 21.5–32.1%). Only 4.0% of personal ads sought safe sex (3.3%; 95% CI = 1.2–5.4%) or required condoms (0.7%; 95% CI = –0.3–1.7%). Our findings underscore the need for increased public PrEP awareness, particularly among men seeking sex with men, as well as the importance of healthcare providers emphasising sexually transmissible infection prevention behaviours (i.e. condom use) used in conjunction with PrEP.
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