Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care. 2020 Jan-Dec;19:2325958220919269. doi: 10.1177/2325958220919269.
In the United States, uptake of daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV continues to grow albeit at a slower than desired pace. Innovations in PrEP delivery systems may partially address structural challenges related to PrEP uptake and PrEP persistence, such as difficulty in attending clinic visits or completing laboratory testing. To study PrEP services offered by a telehealth company called Nurx, we conducted 31 in-depth interviews with prospective or current patients. We hypothesized that patients would find the quarterly laboratory monitoring requirements to be onerous especially in light of receiving all other aspects of PrEP care through a telehealth delivery system. However, interviewees characterized navigating laboratory systems as relatively easy and complying with the quarterly monitoring as a supplementary benefit of PrEP use. Our research illustrates that quarterly monitoring requirements are meaningful to some telehealth PrEP users and may facilitate persistent engagement in receipt of PrEP care.
在美国，每日口服暴露前预防（PrEP）以预防艾滋病毒的使用率持续增长，尽管速度低于预期。PrEP 输送系统的创新可能部分解决与 PrEP 使用率和 PrEP 持续性相关的结构挑战，例如难以参加诊所就诊或完成实验室检测。为了研究一家名为 Nurx 的远程医疗公司提供的 PrEP 服务，我们对 31 名潜在或现有患者进行了深入访谈。我们假设患者会发现每季度的实验室监测要求繁重，特别是在通过远程医疗交付系统接受 PrEP 护理的所有其他方面的情况下。然而，受访者将实验室系统的导航描述为相对容易，并将遵守季度监测作为 PrEP 使用的附加益处。我们的研究表明，每季度的监测要求对一些远程医疗 PrEP 用户有意义，并可能促进持续参与 PrEP 护理的获得。
