Willingness to Participate in HIV Vaccine Trials Among College Students in Southern Brazil

Introduction: Efficacy trials of candidate HIV-1 vaccines require study populations at high risk of infection who adhere to complex protocols with frequent HIV testing and who are willing to participate. We investigated the willingness to participate in HIV vaccine trials and its association with HIV testing experience among college students in southern Brazil.
Methods: Cross-sectional anonymous survey of 645 college students in Caxias do Sul, Brazil from November and December, 2004. A questionnaire comprised of single and multiple choice questions with hypothetical and real life situations related to sexual behavior, HIV testing experience and willingness to participate in vaccine trials was administered after proper introduction and formal consent. Privacy was assured to respondents.
Results: Mean age of 637 eligible participants was 25 years (range 17-56), 68,7% were female, 73,1% were single and 295 (46,3%) reported having an HIV test. Of 637 participants, 259 (40.7%) indicated that they would definitely be willing to participate in a vaccine trial, 201 (31.6%) reported that they would participate depending on additional information and 178 (27.9%) that they would not participate. Of the ones that definitely would participate, 30% reported having an HIV test. In univariate analysis, there was no association between HIV testing and willingness to participate in a vaccine trial.
Conclusions: Our survey on willingness to participate in future HIV vaccine trials in this population indicated that 40.7% to 72.3% of the participants would be part of a trial, considering respondents that needed additional information to participate. This finding suggests that college students may be an alternative cohort, suitable for future HIV prevention trials. Addressing barriers and concerns by providing information through appropriate agencies may lead to successful HIV vaccine trials with college students in southern Brazil.

De Souza R.1, De Souza C.1, Maggi A.2, Bisol M.1, Wagner T.2
1Laboratório de Pesquisa em HIV/AIDS, Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Brazil, 2Department of Psychology, Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Brazil