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. 2022 May;26(5):1377-1392.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-021-03494-4. Epub 2021 Oct 20.

Pharmacy-Based Interventions to Increase Use of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in the United States: A Scoping Review

Alice Zhao  1 , Derek T Dangerfield 2nd  2   3 , Amy Nunn  4 , Rupa Patel  5 , Jason E Farley  6 , Chinenye C Ugoji  7 , Lorraine T Dean  7
Affiliations

Pharmacy-Based Interventions to Increase Use of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in the United States: A Scoping Review

Alice Zhao et al. AIDS Behav. 2022 May.

Abstract

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains underutilized in the U.S. Since greater than 85% of PrEP prescriptions are filled at commercial pharmacies, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to increase PrEP use. This scoping review explores pharmacy-based initiatives to increase PrEP use. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus for peer-reviewed studies on pharmacist-led interventions to increase PrEP use or pharmacy-based PrEP initiatives. Forty-nine articles were included in this review. Overall, studies demonstrated that patients expressed strong support for pharmacist prescription of PrEP. Three intervention designs compared changes in PrEP initiation or knowledge pre- and post-intervention. Commentary/review studies recommended PrEP training for pharmacists, policy changes to support pharmacist screening for HIV and PrEP prescription, and telemedicine to increase prescriptions. Pharmacists could play key roles in improving PrEP use in the U.S. Studies that assess improvements in PrEP use after interventions such as PrEP prescription, PrEP-specific training, and adherence monitoring by pharmacists are needed.

Keywords: Adherence; Compliance*; Initiation; Pharmacist*; Sexual health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of included U.S. studies on pharmacy-based PrEP interventions
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Geographic visualization of PrEP knowledge among pharmacists in comparison to PrEP uptake and HIV prevalence in the U.S. State and regional percentages represent those of cohorts utilized in the included studies and do not necessarily reflect state-wide and region-wide data. Beneath represented state names are HIV cases per 100,000 residents of respective state and PrEP users per 100,000 residents of respective state (data from AIDSVu). Grid pattern represents states that have legalized pharmacist PrEP prescriptive authority as of June 2021. Stars represent areas in which pharmacist-led PrEP interventions have been piloted. Percentages listed for Nebraska and Iowa reflect a study in which the data from each state were not disaggregated
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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