Abstract
This study examined attitudes toward pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and medical decision making about PrEP uptake among educated young Ghanaians in Lower Manya Krobo Municipality (LMKM) to prevent HIV/AIDS. Lower Manya Krobo Municipality has a history of high HIV infection. There is paucity of studies on attitudes towards and medical decisions on PrEP among Ghanaians. PrEP is currently not approved in Ghana and West Africa generally. Efforts are, however, being made to study the possible use of the intervention in Ghana, against a background of generalized HIV infection, and increasing infection among the youth. We used primary data administered through mostly closed-ended questionnaires to 261 respondents. A quasi-experimental one group study was adopted. Respondents were asked the same questions on attitudes towards and medical decisions on PrEP before and after watching a six-minute YouTube video on PrEP. ANOVA was used to examine statistical significance between the paired, pre-and-post data. The Wilcoxon signed rank test helped with conclusions about the mean difference between the paired responses. The findings corroborated with previous literature regarding high sexual risk among the young people. There was a statistically significant effect of the video on attitudes and medical decisions regarding use of PrEP. It seemed that if PrEP were available, the study participants would uptake it to proactively protect themselves from HIV infection. They also had a higher inclination of using PrEP if a medical officer recommended its use, and its side effects were minimal. Statistically significant gendered differences showed that female respondents were less concerned about being stigmatized as having HIV if they took PrEP and were also more likely to respond favorably to the recommendation of a physician to use the intervention, compared to their male counterparts. Public education on PrEP use should consider the involvement of a medical figure.