ArticleBMC public health2013
"If It's Not Working, Why Would They Be Testing It?": mental models of HIV vaccine trials and preventive misconception among men who have sex with men in India.
Article in BMC public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Descriptions of risks and benefits of HIV vaccine trials in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs): an integrative review.BMC medical ethics · 2025Pooled it
- Stakeholder engagement to inform HIV clinical trials: a systematic review of the evidence.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2018Pooled it
- Characterising concerns and misinformation shaping global HIV vaccine confidence and demand: a structured literature search and content analysis.BMJ global health · 2026Review
- B-OK: a visual and tactile tool for improving HIV mental models in a United States urban center.AIDS care · 2025Article
- B-OK: A Visual and Tactile Tool for HIV Treatment Adherence Support in a United States Urban Center.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Engagement of vulnerable communities in HIV prevention research in India: a qualitative investigation.Research involvement and engagement · 2024Article
- Stated preferences for new HIV prevention technologies among men who have sex with men in India: A discrete choice experiment.PloS one · 2024Article
- Acceptability, Feasibility, and Appropriateness of the B-OK Bottles as an Implementation Strategy for Treatment Adherence Support by Medical Case Managers.Global implementation research and applications · 2024Article
- A scoping review of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people's health in India.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Differences in comprehending and acting on pandemic health risk information: a qualitative study using mental models.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Willingness to Use Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Preferences Among Men Who have Sex with Men in Mumbai and Chennai, India: A Discrete Choice Experiment.AIDS and behavior · 2021Article
- What motivates or demotivates injecting drug users to participate in hypothetical HIV vaccine efficacy trials? A qualitative study from urban Tanzania.The East African health research journal · 2020Article
- Applying the Behavioural and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Functional Framework to HIV Cure Research.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2019Review
- 'Why would you promote something that is less percent safer than a condom?': Perspectives on partially effective HIV prevention technologies among key populations in South Africa.SAHARA J : journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance · 2018Article
- "Why Don't You Go Into Suburbs? Why Are You Targeting Us?": Trust and Mistrust in HIV Vaccine Trials in South Africa.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2018Article
- Healthy volunteers' perceptions of risk in US Phase I clinical trials: A mixed-methods study.PLoS medicine · 2018Article
- Observational
- Using Cognitive Interviews to Enhance Measurement in Empirical Bioethics: Developing a Measure of the Preventive Misconception in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials.AJOB empirical bioethics · 2016Article
- Towards a Science of Community Stakeholder Engagement in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials: An Embedded Four-Country Case Study.PloS one · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInformed consent based on comprehension of potential risks and benefits is fundamental to the ethical conduct of clinical research. We explored mental models of candidate HIV vaccines and clinical trials that may impact on the feasibility and ethics of biomedical HIV prevention trials among men who have sex with men (MSM) in India.
methodsA community-based research project was designed and implemented in partnership with community-based organizations serving MSM in Chennai and Mumbai. We conducted 12 focus groups (n=68) with diverse MSM and 14 key informant interviews with MSM community leaders/service providers using a semi-structured interview guide to explore knowledge and beliefs about HIV vaccines and clinical trials. Focus groups (60-90 minutes) and interviews (45-60 minutes) were conducted in participants' native language (Tamil in Chennai; Marathi or Hindi in Mumbai), audio-taped, transcribed and translated into English. We explored focus group and interview data using thematic analysis and a constant comparative method, with a focus on mental models of HIV vaccines and clinical trials.
resultsA mental model of HIV vaccine-induced seropositivity as "having HIV" resulted in fears of vaccine-induced infection and HIV stigma. Some participants feared inactivated vaccines might "drink blood" and "come alive". Pervasive preventive misconception was based on a mental model of prevention trials as interventions, overestimation of likely efficacy of candidate vaccines and likelihood of being assigned to the experimental group, with expectations of protective benefits and decreased condom use. Widespread misunderstanding and lack of acceptance of placebo and random assignment supported perceptions of clinical trials as "cheating". Key informants expressed concerns that volunteers from vulnerable Indian communities were being used as "experimental rats" to benefit high-income countries.
conclusionsEvidence-informed interventions that engage with shared mental models among potential trial volunteers, along with policies and funding mechanisms that ensure local access to products that demonstrate efficacy in trials, may support the safe and ethical implementation of HIV vaccine trials in India.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.