JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Evidence have showed that HIV prevalence among young people especially college students have increased disproportionately. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is one of the most effective ways to prevent HIV and save life, which is vital for college students with sexual experiences who have sexual risks.

Objective:

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Methods:

An institutional based cross-sectional study design was used to collect data by an electronic questionnaire from college students in five colleges located in Zhejiang Province. A total of 21,962 college students were investigated and 2,605 college students with sexual experiences were incorporated in the data analysis with the following information: social-demographic characteristics, awareness and uptake of HIV PrEP and PEP, sexual behaviors, HIV test, and HIV knowledge. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to explore the factors on seeking HIV PrEP and PEP.

Results:

The average age of college students with sexual experiences was 21.25±2.75. 61.42% of the participants were aware of PrEP, and 52.98% were aware of PEP. 5.60% of the participants have sought PrEP or/and PEP, 89.10% have not sought PrEP or PEP. The main ways for the participants to learn PrEP and PEP were through school clubs, the internet, and CDC. Moreover, senior students and those who haven’t done HIV test had a lower likelihood of seeking PrEP and PEP. College students who didn’t have risky sexual behaviors (OR =0.468, P =.004) and homosexuals (OR =0.318, P =.03) were more likely not to seek PEP.

Conclusions:

College students with sexual experiences rarely seek PrEP and PEP with a relative low awareness of PrEP and PEP. It is very important to increase the knowledge and uptake of PrEP and PEP among young students at risk for HIV infection.