Centre for Social Research in Health
The PrEPARE Project is investigating the attitudes of gay and bisexual men to biomedical HIV prevention technologies, particularly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention. National online surveys of gay and bisexual men have been conducted every two years since 2011. The early phase of the project identified that a relatively small proportion of gay and bisexual men were very interested in using PrEP, with willingness to use PrEP concentrated among men who appeared to be most at risk of HIV. We also compared the attitudes of HIV-positive and HIV-negative men towards PrEP and treatment as prevention, revealing scepticism about treatment as prevention in both groups of men. Follow-up online surveys have shown greater interest in and support for PrEP, increasingly positive attitudes to treatment as prevention, and the rapid uptake of PrEP by HIV-negative men, particularly from 2015 onwards. We have also found that PrEP uptake appears to be affected by concerns about taking medication, having less economic security and access to Medicare. The most recent round, conducted in 2021, also assessed the effects of COVID-19 on gay and bisexual men’s engagement with HIV prevention.
Research Centre
Research Area
HIV and Sexual Health
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Familiarity with, perceived accuracy of, and willingness to rely on Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) among gay and bisexual men in Australia: Results of a national cross-sectional survey. (Published in Sexual Health, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23050
Changing attitudes towards condoms among Australian gay and bisexual men in the PrEP era: an analysis of repeated, national online surveys 2011-19. (Published in AIDS Education and Prevention, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2022.34.6.453
Explicit relationship agreements and HIV pre‑exposure prophylaxis use by gay and bisexual men in relationships. (Published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02382-9
COVID-19 vaccination uptake and hesitancy in a national sample of Australian gay and bisexual men. (Published in AIDS and Behavior in 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-022-03603-x (available Open Access)
Trends in belief that HIV treatment prevents transmission among gay and bisexual men in Australia: results of national, online surveys 2013–19. (Published in AIDS Education and Prevention, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2021.33.1.62
Access to subsidized healthcare affects HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among gay and bisexual men in Australia: results of national surveys 2013-19. (Published in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000002572
Trends in attitudes to and the use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis by Australian gay and bisexual men, 2011-17: implications for further implementation from a Diffusion of Innovations perspective. (Published in AIDS & Behavior, 2018). http://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2368-y
Increasing belief in the effectiveness of HIV treatment as prevention: results of repeated, national surveys of Australian gay and bisexual men, 2013-15. (Published in AIDS and Behavior, 2016). http://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1306-0
Interest in using rectal microbicides among Australian gay men is associated with perceived HIV vulnerability and engaging in condomless sex with casual partners: results from a national survey. (Published in Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2015). http://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2014-051694
Australian gay and bisexual men’s attitudes to HIV treatment as prevention in repeated, national surveys, 2011-2013. (Published in PLoS One, 2014). http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112349
Willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis has declined among Australian gay and bisexual men: results from repeated national surveys, 2011-2013. (Published in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 2014) http://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000000287
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment as prevention: a review of awareness and acceptability among men who have sex with men in the Asia Pacific and the Americas. (Published in Sexual Health, 2014). http://doi.org/10.1071/SH13060
HIV-negative and HIV-positive gay men’s attitudes to medicines, HIV treatments and antiretroviral-based prevention. (Published in AIDS & Behavior, 2013). http://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0313-z
Willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and the likelihood of decreased condom use are both associated with unprotected anal intercourse and the perceived likelihood of becoming HIV-positive among Australian gay and bisexual men. (Published in Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2013). http://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2011-05031
Willingness to use and have sex with men taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): results of online surveys of Australian gay and bisexual men. (Published in Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052774
Awareness and knowledge of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among Australian gay and bisexual men: results of a national, online survey. (Published in Sexual Health, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH15243
NSW Ministry of Health
