Adoption of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among women at high risk of HIV infection in Kenya

Abstract

In 2017, Kenya became one of the first African countries to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in its national HIV prevention plan. We sought to characterize factors associated with PrEP uptake and persistence among a cohort of women at risk of HIV infection during the early stages of PrEP scale-up in Kenya. HIV-negative women ≥18 years with ≥2 sexual partners in the past 4 weeks were recruited as part of an ongoing cluster randomized trial of an HIV self-testing intervention. PrEP use was assessed at baseline and at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Between June 2017 and August 2018, 2,086 were enrolled and had complete baseline data. 138 (6.6%) reported PrEP use during the first year of the study. Although PrEP use increased, persistence on PrEP was low, and less than half of individuals reported continuing PrEP at follow-up visits. In multivariate analyses, PrEP use was associated with recent STIs, having an HIV-positive primary partner, having regular transactional sex in the past 12 months, and being a female sex worker. In the early stages of PrEP scale-up in Kenya, uptake increased modestly among women with risk factors for HIV infection, but overall uptake and persistence was low.

Uptake of retroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis and its associated factors among female sex workers, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Those with a history of STIs had higher odds of PrEP uptake and might be more aware of PrEP as a prevention measure. This finding was consistent with a previous study [ 17 , 18 ]. This could be due to frequent interaction with healthcare providers or HIV/STI prevention services.…”

“…This study found that single FSWs were less likely to receive PrEP than those in committed relationships (“Baluka”) which is supported by previous study [ 18 ]. This might be because single FSWs lack social support to access PrEP, while those in committed relationships may be encouraged by their partners.…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Urinary Tract Infections among Diabetic Patients: A Study at Kiryandongo Hospital, Uganda

“…The prevalence of UTI among patients with diabetes in this study was 14.0%. This is lower compared to 33.9% and 51.3% reported in Ethiopia and Egypt, respectively [12,19]. The study finding is also lower than the 20.6% reported in Kenya [20].…”