{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T18:13:27Z","timestamp":1788200007454,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"BMJ","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sex Transm Infect"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Women of black descent in England experience a disproportionate burden of HIV but remain under-represented among users of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Evidence on PrEP awareness, knowledge and acceptability in this population is limited. This study assessed these factors among women attending National Health Service (NHS) Sexual Health clinics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>An exploratory cross-sectional survey was conducted at two level 3 NHS Sexual Health services in England between August 2023 and May 2024. Women aged \u226516 years who self-identified as being of black ethnicity or descent were recruited using consecutive convenience sampling. Participants received a standardised educational leaflet on HIV and PrEP, as a brief educational intervention, before completing a structured questionnaire assessing demographics, PrEP awareness and knowledge prior to education, HIV testing awareness, sexual health behaviours, perceived HIV risk and willingness to consider PrEP following education. Data were analysed descriptively.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sixty-four women participated. Before receiving PrEP information, 73.0% had not previously heard of PrEP, 71.4% did not know its purpose and 80.0% were unaware of how it is taken. Following educational exposure, 72.3% reported that they would consider using PrEP (\u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018maybe\u2019).<\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:p>Inconsistent or no condom use was reported by 78.0% of participants, and 17.3% expressed concerns about partner concurrency. One-fifth (20.0%) were unaware of where HIV testing services could be accessed. Concerns about medication side effects, daily pill-taking and potential drug interactions were the most reported barriers to PrEP use.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Women of black descent attending NHS Sexual Health clinics demonstrated low awareness and knowledge of PrEP, representing a significant barrier to engagement. However, PrEP acceptability was generally favourable following brief educational exposure. Further community-based research is needed to explore wider determinants of PrEP uptake and support equitable HIV prevention strategies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056948","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T17:20:18Z","timestamp":1788196818000},"page":"sextrans-2026-056948","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Awareness, knowledge and acceptability of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among women of black descent attending sexual health clinics in England: a cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-6241-676X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patricia","family":"Williams","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"iCaSH MK, Cambridge Community Services NHS Trust, Milton Keynes, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franklin","family":"Odini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Hospital, North Durham, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Darlington, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cadie","family":"Hibberd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayo-Ola","family":"Okunwobi-Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hope House, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Brockworth, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.1","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . HIV in England: 2024 report. London UKHSA; 2024."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.2","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . HIV in England: towards zero HIV transmissions by 2030. 2024 report. London UK Health Security Agency; 2024."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.3","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . HIV testing, PrEP, new HIV diagnoses and care outcomes in England: 2025 report. 2025."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2023-055989"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2063","DOI":"10.1080\/09540121.2025.2560097","article-title":"Investigating the influence of provider communication and language reframing on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) engagement with Black African and Caribbean women: a systematic review","volume":"37","author":"Sabackic","year":"2025","journal-title":"AIDS Care"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.6","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . HIV action plan for England, 2025 to 2030. London UKHSA; 2025."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.25123","article-title":"HIV testing history and access to treatment among migrants living with HIV in Europe","volume":"21 Suppl 4","author":"Fakoya","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Int AIDS Soc"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(10)60548-X"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1007\/s10461-019-02469-w","article-title":"Intimate Partner Violence Influences Women\u2019s Engagement in the Early Stages of the HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Care Continuum: Using Doubly Robust Estimation","volume":"24","author":"Willie","year":"2020","journal-title":"AIDS Behav"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.10","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, testing, treatment, service delivery and monitoring: recommendations for a public health approach. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2021."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.11","unstructured":"Department of Health and Social Care . Towards zero: an HIV action plan for England. 2022."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1097\/QAI.0000000000002750","article-title":"Providers PrEP: Identifying Primary Health care Providers\u2019 Biases as Barriers to Provision of Equitable PrEP Services","volume":"88","author":"Hull","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1737","DOI":"10.1007\/s10461-018-2283-2","article-title":"Differences in Medical Mistrust Between Black and White Women: Implications for Patient-Provider Communication About PrEP","volume":"23","author":"Tekeste","year":"2019","journal-title":"AIDS Behav"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/hiv.13492"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2020-054457"},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.16","unstructured":"British HIV Association, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV . BHIVA\/BASHH guidelines on the use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) 2025. London: BHIVA, 2025."},{"key":"2026083110201289000_sextrans-2026-056948v1.17","article-title":"Barriers to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) use for HIV: an integrative review","volume":"76","author":"Antonini","year":"2023","journal-title":"Rev Bras Enferm"}],"container-title":["Sexually Transmitted Infections"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056948","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T17:20:21Z","timestamp":1788196821000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/sti.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056948"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]},"references-count":17,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056948"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056948","relation":{},"ISSN":["1368-4973","1472-3263"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1368-4973","type":"print"},{"value":"1472-3263","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]}}}