P051 General practitioners’ (GPs’) knowledge of and attitudes to prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP): A pilot study

Abstract

with partners outside of one's household. We tried to elucidate motives and barriers for complying with sexual distancing among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the relation with social distancing. Methods In this exploratory qualitative study we interviewed STI clinic visiting MSM during the first COVID-19 lock down using a semi-qualitative questionnaire from March-May 2020. We interviewed both men who complied and did not comply with the sexual distancing measures. The interviews were transcribed using verbatim transcription and analyzed using MAXQDA. Results We included 18 non-compliers and 4 compliers. Motivations mentioned to comply with sexual distancing measures were: perceiving COVID-19 as a serious health threat, experiencing critically ill COVID-19 patients first hand, protecting someone dear from COVID-19, and being satisfied with social and/or sexual distancing measures. Barriers mentioned to comply with sexual distancing measures were: not being aware of the need for sexual distancing, being single, previously having had an active sex life, importance of the social aspect of sex, a strong urge for sex, having sex to reduce stress, being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and not perceiving COVID-19 is a serious health threat. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the information on sexual distancing needs to be made more explicit, accessible, understandable, customized and relatable to the key populations. This will improve effective measures and health advises for the current COVID-19 pandemic and future droplet borne outbreaks.

Prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention: A cross-sectional survey of General Practitioners in Australia

“…The top three barriers that impacted our Australian GPs participants prescribing of PrEP were difficulty identifying clients who would benefit from PrEP, lack of knowledge regarding PrEP, and lack of time to adequately counsel regarding PrEP. These results are comparable with the literature, with the main barriers identified in studies as lack of knowledge regarding PrEP and difficulty identifying clients at risk of HIV (8, 10, 11, 12, 19). Difficulty identifying clients who would benefit from PrEP could be addressed by having GP clinics collect certain demographics as part of client registration.…”

“…Past studies have identified several barriers to PrEP prescribing among GPs. Barriers include lack of knowledge regarding PrEP, inability to identify clients at risk of HIV, and concern that PrEP use may increase the incidence of other STIs (8, 9, 10, 11, 12). An Australian GP questionnaire found the main barriers to PrEP prescribing were lack of experience with antiretrovirals and lack of guidelines for prescription (13).…”