Willingness to Participate in HIV Therapeutic Vaccine Trials among HIV-Infected Patients on ART in China

BACKGROUND: More and more HIV therapeutic vaccines will enter clinical trials; however, little is known about the willingness to participate (WTP) in HIV therapeutic vaccine trials among HIV-positive individuals. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the WTP in HIV therapeutic vaccine trials among Chinese HIV-infected patients. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey on HIV-positive inpatients and outpatients at Shanghai Public Health Center. A total of 447 participants were recruited into this study. Following an introduction with general information on HIV therapeutic vaccine and its potential effectiveness and side effects, each participant completed a questionnaire in a self-administered form. The questionnaires covered demographics, high-risk behaviors, clinical characteristics and willingness to participate in HIV therapeutic vaccine trial. RESULTS: The overall willingness to participate in HIV therapeutic vaccine trials was 91.5%. Interestingly, multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that the willingness was higher for those sexually infected by HIV (odds ratio [OR]: 4.36; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.53–12.41), diagnosed as HIV-1 infection for greater than 5 years (OR: 7.12, 95% CI: 1.83–27.76), and with the presence of infectious complications (OR: 2.75; 95% CI: 1.02–7.45). The primary reason for participation was to delay or reduce antiretroviral treatment (ART) and to avoid ART side effects (76.6%), and then followed by delaying disease progression (74.9%), increasing immune response to suppress opportunistic infections (57.7%) and preventing the development of drug resistance (37.1%). Reasons for unwillingness to participate mainly included concern for safety (37.0%), lack of knowledge on therapeutic vaccine (33.3%), and satisfaction with ART effectiveness (22.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The WTP in HIV therapeutic vaccine trials was high among HIV-infected Chinese patients. HIV(+) subjects who acquired infection through sexual contact and who were diagnosed for more than 5 years may represent a good candidate population for enrollment in therapeutic vaccine trials.