J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr

ObjectiveAmong participants of a clinical trial to test the efficacy of tenofovir/emtricitabine in protecting heterosexual men and women living in Botswana from HIV infection, determine 1) if sexual risk behavior, specifically condomless sex acts and number of sex partners, changed over time, 2) factors associated with condomless sex acts and number of sex partners and 3) the effect of participant treatment arm perception on risk behavior to address the possibility of risk compensation.MethodsA longitudinal modeling of rates of risk behaviors was used to determine if the rate of condomless sex acts (#acts/person) and rate of sex partners (#partners/person) changed over time and which factors were associated with behavior change.Results1200 participants were analyzed over 1 year. There was a 25% decrease in the rate of sex partners among participants sexually active in the last 30 days. The rate of reported condomless sex acts was greater for males (RR=1.34, CI=1.07\u20131.67) and participants whose sexual debut in years was 64 15 years of age (RR=1.65, CI=1.14\u20132.38) and 16\u201317 (RR=1.68, CI=1.22\u20132.31) compared to 6520 years. Rate of reported sex partners was greater for males (RR=3.67, CI=2.86\u20134.71) and participants whose age at sexual debut in years was 6415 (RR=2.92, CI=2.01\u20134.22) and 16\u201317 (RR=2.34, CI=1.69\u20133.24) compared to 6520. There was no effect of participant treatment arm perception on risk behavior.ConclusionsOur study of PrEP to prevent HIV infection found no evidence of risk compensation which may have been due to participants\u2019 motivations to reduce their risk behaviors and risk-reduction counseling.CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2018-07-31T00:00:00Z27509251PMC606666