Perceived barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis use and the role of syndemic factors among female sex workers in the Mexico-United States border region: a latent class analysis.

ABSTRACT: Female sex workers (FSWs) experience syndemic factors (e.g., polydrug use, hazardous alcohol consumption, client-perpetrated violence, depression, and sexually transmitted infections) that often heighten vulnerability to HIV and limit healthcare utilization. We hypothesized that syndemic factors will limit FSWs' uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). From 2016 to 2017, 295 HIV-negative FSWs were enrolled in a behavioral HIV prevention trial in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, underwent STI testing, and completed surveys on syndemic factors and perceived barriers to PrEP use. Syndemic scores (0-5) were calculated by summing syndemic factors. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify homogeneous classes with respect to perceived barriers to PrEP use. We identified four classes:

SUBMITTER: Jain JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6891112 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature