Awareness of HIV Prevention Innovations among Women of Color in NYC: HIV self-tests and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)

Introduction:  In 2012 in New York City (NYC), 91% of female HIV/AIDS diagnoses were among black or Hispanic women. The same year, the United States approved the HIV self-test kit and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention. We investigated knowledge of these innovations among women of color in NYC.

Methods: We used data from an NYC survey. Participants included in this analysis were female, black or Hispanic, NYC residents, and ≥18 years; they reported vaginal sex with a man in the past 6 months and did not report testing HIV-positive. Street-intercept (n=374) and on-line (n=287) interviews were administered in both Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. We calculated prevalence of self-test and PrEP awareness and prevalence rate ratios (PRR) for associations with age, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, economic hardship, insurance status, partner type, condom use at last sex, multiple partners, partner’s HIV status, recent HIV test (PrEP only) and calendar year. Multivariate models included characteristics significant univariately.  

Results: A majority knew about the self-test (51.3%), but few knew about PrEP (12.3%). Self-test awareness was significantly associated with ages 30-65 versus 18-29 (adjusted PRR (aPRR)=1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.12-1.54), 2013 versus 2012 (aPRR=1.82, CI=1.56-2.21), and internet versus street-intercept interview (aPRR=1.26, CI=1.08-1.47).  PrEP awareness was only associated with partner disclosure of HIV-positive status (PRR=3.25, CI=1.09-9.71).

Conclusions: Many women of color in NYC were aware of the self-test and awareness increased over time; PrEP awareness was stably low. Knowledge of PrEP was greater among women reporting serodiscordant partnership, suggesting potential for targeted awareness campaigns.