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Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Dissemination: Adapting Diffusion Theory to Examine PrEP Adoption
Ashley Schuyler1, Zainab Alidina2, M Margaret Dolcini2
1School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Hallie E Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, 410 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA. schuylea@oregonstate.edu.
Abstract:
PrEP adoption among African-American men-who-have-sex-with-men (AAMSM) remains low. We applied Diffusion-of-Innovations (DOI) theory to understand PrEP adoption processes among young HIV-negative/status unknown AAMSM (AAYMSM; N = 181; 17-24 years). Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to examine predictors of PrEP diffusion stages. Most AAYMSM were in the persuasion stage (PrEP-aware, hadn't adopted; 72.4%). Our results suggest that model antecedents are DOI stage-specific. PrEP awareness (knowledge stage) was associated with lower levels of social stigma (p < .03) and greater health literacy (p < .05), while sexual risk (p < .03) and education (p < .03) predicted PrEP adoption (12.2%). PrEP efficacy and side effects were primary innovation characteristics influencing adoption receptivity in the persuasion stage. Interventions to improve PrEP diffusion should be tailored to stage-specific antecedents depending on how a community is stratified across the DOI stages.
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