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Will Gay and Bisexual Men Taking Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Switch to Long-Acting Injectable PrEP Should It Become Available?

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Abstract

Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective at reducing HIV transmission risk and is CDC recommended for many gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM). We sought to investigate awareness of and preference for using long-acting injectable PrEP (LAI-PrEP) among GBM currently taking oral PrEP (n = 104), and identify their concerns. About half of GBM had heard of LAI-PrEP, and 30.8% specifically preferred LAI-PrEP. GBM with more concerns about the level of protection and drug half-life of LAI-PrEP had lower odds of preferring LAI-PrEP. Given that daily pill adherence is a challenge for some on PrEP, it is important to investigate the degree to which those on PrEP might consider LAI-PrEP as an alternative.

Resumen

La Profilaxis pre-Exposición (PrEP) es altamente efectiva en reducir el riesgo de transmisión del VIH y la es recomendada por los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por su sigla en inglés) para hombres homosexuales, bisexuales, y otros hombres que tienen relaciones sexuales con hombres (HGB). Buscamos investigar el grado de conciencia sobre y la preferencia por usar la PrEP inyectable de acción prolongada (LAI-PrEP, por su sigla en inglés) entre HGB que están actualmente tomando la PrEP oralmente (n = 104), e identificar sus preocupaciones al respecto. Aproximadamente la mitad de los HGB había oído sobre la LAI-PrEP (LAI-PrEP, por su sigla en inglés) y el 30.8% prefirió específicamente la LAI-PrEP. HGB con más preocupación sobre el nivel de protección y la vida-media de la LAI-PrEP tuvieron menor probabilidad de preferir la LAI-PrEP. Dado que la adherencia al tratamiento con un medicamento diario es un desafío para algunas personas que toman la PrEP, es importante investigar hasta qué punto las personas que toman la PrEP considerarían la LAI-PrEP como una alternativa.

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Acknowledgments

Funding support for the PrEP & Me study and authors of this manuscript came from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) (R21-DA039019, PI: Grov). H. Jonathon Rendina is funded by a career development award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K01-DA039030). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the other members of the PrEP & Me study team (Mark Pawson, Brian Salfas, Chloe Mirzayi, Juan Castiblanco, and Ruben Jimenez) and other staff from the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (Chris Hietikko, Tina Koo, Carlos Ponton, and Paula Bertone). Finally, we thank Shoshana Kahana at NIDA and all of our participants who participated in PrEP & Me. NIDA/NIH had no role in the production of this manuscript nor necessarily endorses its findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies & Training, Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY, USA

    Steven A. John, Thomas H. F. Whitfield, H. Jonathon Rendina & Jeffrey T. Parsons

  2. Health Psychology and Clinical Science Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY, USA

    Thomas H. F. Whitfield, H. Jonathon Rendina & Jeffrey T. Parsons

  3. Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY, USA

    H. Jonathon Rendina & Jeffrey T. Parsons

  4. CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, 55 W 125th Street, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Christian Grov

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  1. Steven A. John
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  2. Thomas H. F. Whitfield
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  3. H. Jonathon Rendina
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  4. Jeffrey T. Parsons
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  5. Christian Grov
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Correspondence to Christian Grov.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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John, S.A., Whitfield, T.H.F., Rendina, H.J. et al. Will Gay and Bisexual Men Taking Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Switch to Long-Acting Injectable PrEP Should It Become Available?. AIDS Behav 22, 1184–1189 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1907-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1907-2

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