A Multicomponent Intervention to Increase HIV Risk Perceptions and PrEP Initiation Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men

Study Summary

Tragically, HIV infections among Black sexual minority men (BSMM) in the U.S. persist. Despite the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, effective uptake among BSMM remains low. It is imperative to support PrEP initiation among this group. The proposed multi-component interventional study is designed to increase HIV risk perceptions and subsequent PrEP initiation through the use of our team's existing mobile application called PrEPme and a peer change agent (PCA) to record and review sexual risk behaviors and subsequent PrEP interest. Few have studied whether reviewing sexual diaries with a PCA increases HIV risk perceptions and PrEP initiation among BSMM. This strategy will allow BSMM who are not using PrEP to record their sexual behaviors using a PrEPme-based diary, review their sexual histories with a PCA, and assess PrEP interest. The PCA will be trained in motivational interviewing techniques to facilitate discussions. The PCA will provide HIV prevention education, sexual risk evaluation, and PrEP navigation. BSMM who become interested in initiating PrEP will be referred to our team's ongoing PrEP tele-medicine study (PI: Jason Farley, co-investigator) or other PrEP care services in the greater Baltimore area. The proposed intervention targets a high priority population in HIV prevention and mitigates structural barriers to PrEP uptake such as perceived judgement, stigma, and discrimination from clinical providers.

Primary Outcome

The Perceived Risk of HIV Scale is an 8-item scale with each item being scored from 1-5 (e.g., "Extremely likely" to "Extremely Unlikely," "Rarely" to "All of the time," etc.). Overall score ranges from 10 to 40 where higher scores signify increased perception of risk.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Multi-component intervention strategy