Reporting pre-exposure prophylaxis use in Craigslist personal advertisements among men seeking sex with men in the United States.

Abstract

This study describes the self-reported use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the personal advertisements of men seeking sex with men in the United States on the online classified advertisement site, Craigslist. Overall self-reported PrEP use was low (0.20%; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.18-0.22). However, PrEP use in personal ads was described in conjunction with seeking sexual risk behaviours including 'bareback' sex (22.7%; 95% CI=17.7-27.7%) and sex with substance use (26.8%; 95% CI=21.5-32.1%). Only 4.0% of personal ads sought safe sex (3.3%; 95% CI=1.2-5.4%) or required condoms (0.7%; 95% CI=-0.3-1.7%). Our findings underscore the need for increased public PrEP awareness, particularly among men seeking sex with men, as well as the importance of healthcare providers emphasising sexually transmissible infection prevention behaviours (i.e. condom use) used in conjunction with PrEP.