Groundbreaking study finally researches PrEP use among trans men
From HIV Plus online…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 1.1 million people 13 years old and over are living with HIV, and nearly 14 percent of them are undiagnosed.
While studies from world health organizations continue to expand deeper realities unseen in the epidemic, transgender men are often excluded from the conversation — especially when it comes to PrEP, an HIV prevention strategy that when practiced routinely makes it impossible to contract HIV. Today, the only FDA-approved drug to be used as PrEP is Truvada, a once-daily pill.
Now, thanks to researchers at The Fenway Institute, a groundbreaking study is the first of its kind to investigate PrEP and other biological/psychological factors (like alcohol or substance abuse, depression, relationship status, needle sharing, and more) specifically among transgender men who have sex with men (MSM).
The study, which was published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society, was conducted online from November 2017 to December 2017 and included 857 trans MSM (aged between 18 to 60, though the majority of them were under 30), all of whom were surveyed by researchers to determine their PrEP use and HIV risk factors.