Perceived Social Norms About Oral PrEP Use: Differences Between African–American, Latino and White Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in Texas

Abstract

Correct and consistent condom use has been the primary method of HIV prevention until the FDA approve the use of PrEP in 2012. While strong evidence existing regarding the efficacy of PrEP, uptake has remained slower than anticipated. While work is underway to better understand the factors impacting uptake, the majority of this work as been focused on white gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) living in metropolitan regions of the coastal U.S. The current study used a community-based framework to assess perceived social norms through a elicitation survey. A total of 104 GBMSM met inclusion criteria for the study. Several analytic categories emerged across questions and a number of differences were found across race and ethnicity such as who would approve or disapprove off PrEP and who would be likely to use PrEP. Further, we found differences between injunctive and descriptive norms. These findings suggest that there are unique factors contributing to PrEP uptake among racial and ethnic minority GBMSM and that to fully understand uptake a more robust measure of perceived norms may be needed.