Cargando…

Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho

Studies on knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have mostly focused on key populations in North America and Europe. To inform Lesotho’s national rollout of PrEP to the general population, this study aimed to characterize knowledge and attitudes about PrEP among policy ma...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Geldsetzer, Pascal, Chebet, Joy J., Tarumbiswa, Tapiwa, Phate-Lesihla, Rosina, Maponga, Chivimbiso, Mandara, Esther, Bärnighausen, Till, McMahon, Shannon A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10021845/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36962565
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000762
_version_ 1784908594171346944
author Geldsetzer, Pascal
Chebet, Joy J.
Tarumbiswa, Tapiwa
Phate-Lesihla, Rosina
Maponga, Chivimbiso
Mandara, Esther
Bärnighausen, Till
McMahon, Shannon A.
author_facet Geldsetzer, Pascal
Chebet, Joy J.
Tarumbiswa, Tapiwa
Phate-Lesihla, Rosina
Maponga, Chivimbiso
Mandara, Esther
Bärnighausen, Till
McMahon, Shannon A.
author_sort Geldsetzer, Pascal
collection PubMed
description Studies on knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have mostly focused on key populations in North America and Europe. To inform Lesotho’s national rollout of PrEP to the general population, this study aimed to characterize knowledge and attitudes about PrEP among policy makers, implementing partners, healthcare providers, and PrEP end-users in Lesotho. Respondents were purposively selected to participate based on personal experience in the development and implementation of Lesotho’s PrEP program, or the personal use of PrEP. We conducted 106 in-depth interviews with policy makers (n = 5), implementing partners (n = 4), and end-users (current PrEP users = 55; former PrEP users = 36; and PrEP “decliners” = 6). In addition, we held 11 focus group discussions (FGDs) with a total of 105 healthcare providers. Interview and FGD transcripts were analyzed following the tenets of Grounded Theory. Respondents expressed positive attitudes toward PrEP, owing to experienced and perceived personal, familial, and societal benefits. PrEP was viewed as i) an opportunity for serodiscordant couples to remain together, ii) a means of conceiving children with minimized risk of HIV infection, iii) providing a sense of agency and control, and iv) an avenue for addressing the HIV epidemic in Lesotho. Respondents demonstrated understanding of PrEP’s intended use, eligibility requirements, and modality of use. However, respondents also reported that several important misconceptions of PrEP were common among adults in Lesotho, including a belief that PrEP protects against sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, promotes promiscuity, prevents pregnancy, causes seroconversion, and provides lifelong protection from taking the pill just once. In addition to building on the perceived advantages of PrEP to shape a positive message, Lesotho’s national rollout of PrEP will likely benefit from a communication strategy that specifically addresses the common misconceptions of PrEP identified in this study.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10021845
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-100218452023-03-17 Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho Geldsetzer, Pascal Chebet, Joy J. Tarumbiswa, Tapiwa Phate-Lesihla, Rosina Maponga, Chivimbiso Mandara, Esther Bärnighausen, Till McMahon, Shannon A. PLOS Glob Public Health Research Article Studies on knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have mostly focused on key populations in North America and Europe. To inform Lesotho’s national rollout of PrEP to the general population, this study aimed to characterize knowledge and attitudes about PrEP among policy makers, implementing partners, healthcare providers, and PrEP end-users in Lesotho. Respondents were purposively selected to participate based on personal experience in the development and implementation of Lesotho’s PrEP program, or the personal use of PrEP. We conducted 106 in-depth interviews with policy makers (n = 5), implementing partners (n = 4), and end-users (current PrEP users = 55; former PrEP users = 36; and PrEP “decliners” = 6). In addition, we held 11 focus group discussions (FGDs) with a total of 105 healthcare providers. Interview and FGD transcripts were analyzed following the tenets of Grounded Theory. Respondents expressed positive attitudes toward PrEP, owing to experienced and perceived personal, familial, and societal benefits. PrEP was viewed as i) an opportunity for serodiscordant couples to remain together, ii) a means of conceiving children with minimized risk of HIV infection, iii) providing a sense of agency and control, and iv) an avenue for addressing the HIV epidemic in Lesotho. Respondents demonstrated understanding of PrEP’s intended use, eligibility requirements, and modality of use. However, respondents also reported that several important misconceptions of PrEP were common among adults in Lesotho, including a belief that PrEP protects against sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, promotes promiscuity, prevents pregnancy, causes seroconversion, and provides lifelong protection from taking the pill just once. In addition to building on the perceived advantages of PrEP to shape a positive message, Lesotho’s national rollout of PrEP will likely benefit from a communication strategy that specifically addresses the common misconceptions of PrEP identified in this study. Public Library of Science 2022-10-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10021845/ /pubmed/36962565 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000762 Text en © 2022 Geldsetzer et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Geldsetzer, Pascal
Chebet, Joy J.
Tarumbiswa, Tapiwa
Phate-Lesihla, Rosina
Maponga, Chivimbiso
Mandara, Esther
Bärnighausen, Till
McMahon, Shannon A.
Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title_full Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title_fullStr Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title_short Knowledge and attitudes about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in Lesotho
title_sort knowledge and attitudes about hiv pre-exposure prophylaxis: evidence from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with policy makers, healthcare providers, and end-users in lesotho
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10021845/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36962565
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000762
work_keys_str_mv AT geldsetzerpascal knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT chebetjoyj knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT tarumbiswatapiwa knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT phatelesihlarosina knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT mapongachivimbiso knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT mandaraesther knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT barnighausentill knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho
AT mcmahonshannona knowledgeandattitudesabouthivpreexposureprophylaxisevidencefromindepthinterviewsandfocusgroupdiscussionswithpolicymakershealthcareprovidersandendusersinlesotho