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. 2017 Aug 21;12(8):e0183521.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183521. eCollection 2017.

Willingness of community-recruited men who have sex with men in Washington, DC to use long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis

Matthew E Levy  1 , Rudy Patrick  1 , Jonjelyn Gamble  2 , Anthony Rawls  1 , Jenevieve Opoku  2 , Manya Magnus  1 , Michael Kharfen  2 , Alan E Greenberg  1 , Irene Kuo  1
Affiliations

Willingness of community-recruited men who have sex with men in Washington, DC to use long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis

Matthew E Levy et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: Clinical trials are currently investigating the safety and efficacy of long-acting injectable (LAI) agents as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Using National HIV Behavioral Surveillance data, we assessed the self-reported willingness of men who have sex with men (MSM) to use LAI PrEP and their preference for LAI versus daily oral PrEP.

Methods: In 2014, venue-based sampling was used to recruit MSM aged ≥18 years in Washington, DC. Participants completed an interviewer-administered survey followed by voluntary HIV testing. This analysis included MSM who self-reported negative/unknown HIV status at study entry. Correlates of being "very likely" to use LAI PrEP and preferring it to daily oral PrEP were identified using multivariable logistic regression.

Results: Of 314 participants who self-reported negative/unknown HIV status, 50% were <30 years old, 41% were non-Hispanic Black, 37% were non-Hispanic White, and 14% were Hispanic. If LAI PrEP were offered for free or covered by health insurance, 62% were very likely, 25% were somewhat likely, and 12% were unlikely to use it. Regarding preferred PrEP modality, 67% chose LAI PrEP, 24% chose oral PrEP, and 9% chose neither. Correlates of being very likely versus somewhat likely/unlikely to use LAI PrEP included age <30 years (aOR 1.64; 95% CI 1.00-2.68), reporting ≥6 (vs. 1) sex partners in the last year (aOR 2.60; 95% CI 1.22-5.53), previous oral PrEP use (aOR 3.67; 95% CI 1.20-11.24), and being newly identified as HIV-infected during study testing (aOR 4.83; 95% CI 1.03-22.67). Black (vs. White) men (aOR 0.48; 95% CI 0.24-0.96) and men with an income of <$20,000 (vs. ≥$75,000; aOR 0.37; 95% CI 0.15-0.93) were less likely to prefer LAI to oral PrEP.

Conclusions: If LAI PrEP were found to be efficacious, its addition to the HIV prevention toolkit could facilitate more complete PrEP coverage among MSM at risk for HIV.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Willingness to use long-acting injectable PrEP among men who have sex with men (n = 313).
One participant who did not know his willingness was excluded.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Preference for long-acting injectable versus daily oral PrEP among men who have sex with men (n = 313).
One participant who did not know his preference was excluded.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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