Attitudes Toward HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Western China

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), as demonstrated in recently published clinical trials, is one promising approach for controlling the emerging epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluated the attitudes towards use of PrEP among MSM in western China. A total of 1402 participants completed a self-administered questionnaire. Overall, 22% of the participants reported that they had heard of PrEP, <1% had ever used medicine to prevent HIV, and 64% reported that they were absolutely willing to use PrEP if it were proven to be safe and effective. The predictors of willingness to use PrEP included lower education, moderate income compared with the lowest income, never or rarely finding sexual partners through the Internet in the past 6 months, sexually transmitted infection (STI) history, more knowledge of AIDS, worrying about HIV as a threat to themselves and their family, having previously heard of PrEP, and believing that PrEP was effective in preventing HIV. This study demonstrates that Chinese MSM have moderate awareness of PrEP and a high interest in using it.