To switch or not to switch: Intentions to switch to injectable PrEP among gay and bisexual men with at least twelve months oral PrEP experience.

BACKGROUND: Phase III trials of long-acting injectable (LAI) PrEP, currently underway, have great potential for expanding the menu of HIV prevention options. Imagining a future in which multiple PrEP modalities are available to potential users of biomedical HIV prevention, we investigated which factors might help direct a patient-physician shared-decision making process to optimize the choice of biomedical HIV prevention method. METHODS: Participants (n = 105; ages 19-63; 46.7% men of color) were former participants in a PrEP demonstration project and had taken daily oral PrEP for ≥ 12 months. Participants were given information about LAI PrEP and asked whether they would be interested in switching from oral to LAI PrEP. Participants were also asked about specific pros/cons of LAI PrEP, PrEP attitudes and experiences, and personality factors. RESULTS: Two-thirds (66.7%) of current oral PrEP users would switch to LAI PrEP. Intention to switch was associated with product-level and psychosocial factors. Attitudes towards logistical factors (i.e. getting to regular clinic visits for recurring shots) featured more prominently than factors related to the physical experience of PrEP modality (i.e., concerns about injection pain) as motivators for switching. In a multivariate regression model, psychosocial factors including the emotional burden of daily pill taking, deriving a sense of responsibility from PrEP use, and self-identifying as an early adopter, were the strongest predictors of switching. CONCLUSIONS: These data underscore the importance of attending not only to product-level factors, but also to the logistical and psychological experience of prevention methods for users. Findings have significant implications for the development of patient education materials and patient-provider shared decision aids.

Lessons for Patient Education Around Long-Acting Injectable PrEP: Findings from a Mixed-Method Study of Phase II Trial Participants.

This study aimed to identify patients' physical and psychosocial experiences of an investigational long-acting injectable PrEP product to aid in the development of patient and provider education materials. Twenty-eight participants of a Phase 2 safety, tolerability, and acceptability study of long-acting integrase inhibitor cabotegravir (CAB-LA) were interviewed on their physical and psychosocial experiences of the injections. Five themes emerged through a framework analysis on these interview transcripts: (1) injection-related pain is highly variable across individuals; (2) pain is more impactful after the injections than during; (3) patient anxiety is critical, but does not determine the experience of injections and decreases over time; (4) intimacy and awkwardness of gluteal injections impacts patients' experiences; (5) patient education and care strategies can mitigate the above factors. These findings can inform further sociobehavioral research within Phase 3 efficacy trials of CAB-LA, as well as patient education and provider guidance for future injectable PrEP products.