Factors related to the willingness of young gay men to participate in preventive HIV vaccine trials

Given their high seroincidence, young gay men will be targeted for recruitm ent into HIV vaccine trials but many challenges stand in the way of enlisti ng their cooperation. This study examined factors associated with young Say men's willingness to participate in vaccine trials and identified reasons for agreeing or not agreeing in participate The data come from the Young Me n's Survey, a cohort of western U.S. young gay men aged 18 to 29 years, sur veyed using mail-back questionnaires. Participants who reported being HIV-n egative or who had not been tested for HIV (n = 390) were asked to race the ir desire to be given an HIV vaccine and their degree of willingness to par ticipate in a vaccine trial. They also responded to open-ended heir reasons for participating or not participating. Of these respondents, 91% wanted t o be given an HIV vaccine, yet many had serious reservation about participa ting in a vaccine trial. Men who had engaged in HIV risk behavior reported greater willingness to participate. The most common reasons for wanting to participate were desires to contribute to ending the AIDS epidemic and desi re to help others; however, fears for one's own health and safety made many reluctant to participate.