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Acceptability and Preferences for Hypothetical Rectal Microbicides among a Community Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Thailand: A Discrete Choice Experiment

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Abstract

Rectal microbicides (RMs) may offer substantial benefits in expanding HIV prevention options for key populations. From April to August 2013, we conducted Tablet-Assisted Survey Interviewing, including a discrete choice experiment, with participants recruited from gay entertainment venues and community-based organizations in Chiang Mai and Pattaya, Thailand. Among 408 participants, 74.5 % were young men who have sex with men, 25.5 % transgender women, with mean age = 24.3 years. One-third (35.5 %) had ≤9th grade education; 63.4 % engaged in sex work. Overall, 83.4 % reported they would definitely use a RM, with more than 2-fold higher odds of choice of a RM with 99 versus 50 % efficacy, and significantly higher odds of choosing gel versus suppository, intermittent versus daily dosing, and prescription versus over-the-counter. Sex workers were significantly more likely to use a RM immediately upon availability, with greater tolerance for moderate efficacy and daily dosing. Engaging key populations in assessing RM preferences may support biomedical research and evidence-informed interventions to optimize the effectiveness of RMs in HIV prevention.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (OGE-111397; HIB-120230) and the Canada Research Chairs Program. The authors thank our community collaborators, Mplus+, Chiang Mai; and Sisters, and Take Care!!, Pattaya, with special appreciation to Thitiyanun Nakpor, Pongpeera Patpeerapong, Jit Srichandon, Pramit Chaina, Jetsarit Intawong, Thanapat Thephawan, and Len Unterberg for assistance with recruitment, and Suthisak Sanwicha for help with data collection. We are grateful to all participants in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V4, Canada

    Peter A. Newman & Suchon Tepjan

  2. Department of Economics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Michael P. Cameron & Riccardo Scarpa

  3. Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon, Bangkok, Thailand

    Surachet Roungprakhon

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  1. Peter A. Newman
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  2. Michael P. Cameron
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  3. Surachet Roungprakhon
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  5. Riccardo Scarpa
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Correspondence to Peter A. Newman.

Appendix: Discrete Choice Experiment: 8 Choice Scenarios of 5 Hypothetical Rectal Microbicide Alternatives

Appendix: Discrete Choice Experiment: 8 Choice Scenarios of 5 Hypothetical Rectal Microbicide Alternatives

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Newman, P.A., Cameron, M., Roungprakhon, S. et al. Acceptability and Preferences for Hypothetical Rectal Microbicides among a Community Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Thailand: A Discrete Choice Experiment. AIDS Behav 20, 2588–2601 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1258-9

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