ETR Associates, Scotts Valley, CA.
Currently, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2024 Apr 15;95(5):463-469. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003375. Epub 2024 Mar 11.
BACKGROUND: Telehealth approaches are increasingly being used to provide access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an effective but underused HIV prevention modality. This randomized controlled trial of PrEPTECH, a telehealth intervention for the provision of HIV PrEP, seeks to assess its effects on PrEP access. METHODS: Young men who have sex with men and transgender women in Florida and California with an indication for PrEP were randomly assigned in a 1:1 allocation to receive access to PrEPTECH or a control condition, access to an online listing of PrEP resources in their communities. This intent-to-treat analysis used logistic and linear regression to compare self-reported PrEP initiation, use, and coverage between control and intervention arm participants at 90 days and 180 days of follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 229 participants with a mean age of 23.7 years, 77.3% people of color enrolled in PrEPTECH. At 90 days, postbaseline initiation of PrEP was significantly higher among those in the PrEPTECH arm than among controls (odds ratio [OR]: 6.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.54 to 17.35), and this held true by 180 days post baseline. The count of sex acts for which participants were not protected by PrEP, PrEP adherence, and recent PrEP use at 180 days post baseline were not significantly different between the study arms. CONCLUSIONS: Receiving access to a telehealth platform for PrEP access increased PrEP initiation in this cohort of young, predominantly non-White sexual and gender minorities. PrEP telehealth may be a worthy avenue for providing access to PrEP for these populations, but additional strategies may be needed to promote adherence and persistence of PrEP use.
背景:远程医疗方法正越来越多地被用于提供暴露前预防(PrEP),这是一种有效的但使用不足的艾滋病预防方式。这项名为 PrEPTECH 的研究是一项针对提供 HIV PrEP 的远程医疗干预措施的随机对照试验,旨在评估其对 PrEP 可及性的影响。
方法:在佛罗里达州和加利福尼亚州,有 PrEP 适应证的男男性行为者和跨性别女性被随机分配到接受 PrEPTECH 或对照条件,即获得其所在社区的 PrEP 资源在线列表。本意向治疗分析使用逻辑和线性回归比较了 90 天和 180 天随访时对照组和干预组参与者的自我报告的 PrEP 起始、使用和覆盖率。
结果:共有 229 名平均年龄为 23.7 岁的参与者,其中 77.3%的参与者为有色人种。在 90 天的时间里,PrEPTECH 组中 PrEP 的起始率明显高于对照组(优势比[OR]:6.63,95%置信区间[CI]:2.54 至 17.35),且在基线后 180 天仍如此。在基线后 180 天,参与者未被 PrEP 保护的性行为次数、PrEP 依从性和最近的 PrEP 使用次数在研究组之间没有显著差异。
结论:获得 PrEP 准入的远程医疗平台增加了本队列中年轻、主要是非白人的性少数群体和性别少数群体的 PrEP 起始率。PrEP 远程医疗可能是为这些人群提供 PrEP 准入的一个有价值的途径,但可能需要额外的策略来促进 PrEP 使用的依从性和持久性。
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2024-4-15
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