HIV knowledge, risk perception and pre-exposure prophylaxis interest among Thai university students

To assess HIV risk perception and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) interest among university students, an anonymous survey was conducted among students from a large public university in Thailand. There were 641 participants; 118 (18%) were categorised into moderate or high-risk group. Of these 118 participants, 111 (94%) perceived themselves as no or low risk. Despite high levels of knowledge about HIV transmission risks, rates of consistent condom use with vaginal, oral and anal sex were all low (43%, 18% and 33%, respectively). The low rates of consistent condom use were significantly associated with false perception of low HIV risk (P < 0.05). Independent factors associated with the false perception were male gender (P < 0.001), living with a domestic partner (P = 0.004), being homosexual or bisexual (P = 0.02) and being students from a non-medicine faculty (P = 0.04). Of the 641 participants, 211 (33%) were not interested in PrEP. Consistent condom use with oral sex (P = 0.004), consistent condom use with vaginal sex (P = 0.04) and being heterosexual (P = 0.02) were independently associated with no PrEP interest. Our study suggests the need for enhanced interventions to improve HIV risk perception and safe sex practices among the university students.