AEGiS-13IAC: Willingness of young sexually active heterosexual ethnic minority men and women to participate in HIV vaccine trials.

13th International AIDS Conference

Durban, South Africa - July 9-July 14, 2000

Willingness of young sexually active heterosexual ethnic minority men and women to participate in HIV vaccine trials.

Int Conf AIDS 2000 Jul 9-14; 13:(abstract no. ThOrD683)

Wanjau E, Mays VM, Cochran SD
E. Wanjau, University of California, Department of Psychology, Box 951563, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Tel.: +1 310 206 51 59, Fax: +1 310 206 58 95, E-mail: ewanjau@ucla.edu

BACKGROUND: In the quest to develop a vaccine that will prevent new HIV infections, a major concern, in addition to biological efficacy, is that of difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of high risk subjects for vaccine trials.

METHOD: We examined factors associated with intentions to volunteer for HIV-related research among 2023 unmarried sexually active, ethnically diverse, heterosexual men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Respondents completed anonymous questionnaires assessing sexual behavior experiences and questions related to intentions to become an HIV research subject.

RESULTS: Forty eight percent indicated that they would never volunteer for HIV vaccine trials. Nearly half reported that they would have to be paid an enormous amount of money to do so. When asked if they would participate in later phases of vaccine development when the vaccine has been shown to be safe, again 46% indicated that they would refuse, with most who would volunteer indicating that they would have to be paid far more (>U.S. $10,000) than what is normatively paid for research participation. While few participants we surveyed reported that they were bisexual or homosexual men (n = 14), these individuals appear more likely to report that they might volunteer (71%, 95% CI: 48%-95%) than the heterosexuals surveyed (51%, 95% CI: 49%-54%). Ethnic differences in volunteering intentions are also present. African-Americans were most likely to indicate that they would never volunteer for HIV vaccine trials (57%, 95% CI: 49%-66%) while Whites were least likely to report they would never volunteer (42%, 95% CI: 38%-47%).

CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the difficulties that will be associated with recruiting sufficient numbers of individuals to test the effectiveness of HIV vaccines on a wide scale among sexually active young adults.

Keywords: AEGIS, AIDS Vaccines, Heterosexuality, Bisexuality, HIV Infections, Homosexuality, Sex Behavior, African Americans, Questionnaires, United States, Human, Female, Male, Adult
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