Willingness to Use Long-Acting Injectable PrEP Among PrEP Naïve Black and Hispanic Sexual Gender Minority Persons

• Published in: AIDS and behavior 2024-06, Vol.28 (6), p.2166-2174
• Main Authors: Okafor, Chukwuemeka N., Eaton, Lisa, Watson, Ryan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Anti-HIV Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-HIV Agents - therapeutic use; Black or African American - psychology; Black or African American - statistics & numerical data; Delayed-Action Preparations; Female; Gender; Health Psychology; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic or Latino - psychology; Hispanic or Latino - statistics & numerical data; HIV; HIV Infections - ethnology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Male; Medication Adherence - psychology; Medication Adherence - statistics & numerical data; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Paper; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - ethnology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis; Prophylaxis; Public Health; Regression analysis; Regression models; Sexual and Gender Minorities - psychology; Sexual and Gender Minorities - statistics & numerical data; Sexual behavior; Sexual partners; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social Stigma; Statistical analysis; STD; Stigma; United States - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-024-04314-1

In December 2021, long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (LAI-PrEP) was approved for the prevention of HIV in at-risk adults and adolescents. LAI-PrEP may address adherence issues of daily oral daily PrEP and PrEP stigma. However, studies assessing LAI-PrEP willingness among PrEP naive Black and Hispanic sexual and gender minority (SGM) persons– a group disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic in the United States – is rare. To assess the extent of and characteristics of willingness to use LAI-PrEP in a national sample of Black and Hispanic SGM who are self-reported that they have never used PrEP. We analyzed data from a national sample of Black and Hispanic SGM collected between March and August 2020. We used log-binomial regression models to assess characteristics associated with willingness to use LAI-PrEP. Of the overall sample ( N  = 380), the mean age was 24 (SD = 2.8) and the majority of the sample (54%, n  = 205) reported willingness to use LAI-PrEP. In multivariable log-binomial regression models, PrEP stigma was independently associated with less [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.6, 0.9], while number of sexual partners in the past 12 months was associated with a more willingness to use LAI-PrEP (PR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.0, 1.2). Our findings highlight the persistence of PrEP stigma as a potential barrier to willingness to use LAI-PrEP in this sample of Black and Hispanic SGM who have never used PrEP. Additional work needs to be done to reduce PrEP stigma more broadly.