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“I Do Try To Use Condoms, But…”: Knowledge and Interest in PrEP Among Male Sex Workers in Mexico City

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Abstract

In Mexico City, male sex workers (MSWs) are up to 126 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general public. We conducted interviews with 23 MSWs in Mexico City to examine their subjective understandings about their sexual risk behaviors and explore opportunities about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a prevention approach in this group. Despite knowledge about sexual HIV risks, most participants reported condomless anal sex with clients. There was very little prior knowledge about PrEP, but very high interest in using a daily pill for prevention. Several participants expected an increase in condomless anal sex if taking PrEP, because of monetary incentives from clients or a perceived increase in pleasure. Additionally, seasonal sex workers expressed interest in using PrEP only during months when they were performing sex work. PrEP implementation efforts through Mexico’s healthcare system should recognize the varying needs and sexual risk behaviors of MSWs.

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Funding

The funding for this study was received from NIH/NIMH Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (3R34MH110369-02S1), Brown University Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program, and NIH/NIMH Planning Grant “Prep Seguro: Antiretroviral-Based HIV Prevention Among Men at High Risk in Mexico” (5R34MH114664-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Behavioral and Social Health Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Alberto Edeza, E. Karina Santamaria, Don Operario & Katie B. Biello

  2. Departments of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA

    Katie B. Biello

  3. Departments of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA

    Omar Galárraga

  4. Center for Health Equity Research, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Alberto Edeza & Katie B. Biello

  5. Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Omar Galárraga

  6. The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Katie B. Biello

  7. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Mexico

    Sandra Sosa-Rubí

Authors
  1. Alberto Edeza
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  2. Omar Galárraga
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  3. E. Karina Santamaria
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  4. Sandra Sosa-Rubí
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  5. Don Operario
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  6. Katie B. Biello
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto Edeza.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

We declare no ethical issues observed in data collection or analyses. All study procedures and documents were approved by the Ethics Committee at the Mexican National Institute of Public Health (Comité de Ética en Investigación del Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública), in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

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All participants provided verbal informed consent prior to participating in study procedures.

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Edeza, A., Galárraga, O., Santamaria, E.K. et al. “I Do Try To Use Condoms, But…”: Knowledge and Interest in PrEP Among Male Sex Workers in Mexico City. Arch Sex Behav 49, 355–363 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01473-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01473-4

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