Effects of mode of transportation on PrEP persistence among urban men who have sex with men

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the effect of travel-related factors, such as mode of transportation, on retention in PrEP care, or PrEP persistence. We used data from the 2020 American Men’s Internet Survey and conducted multilevel logistic regression to estimate the association between mode of transportation used for healthcare access and PrEP persistence among urban gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S. MSM using public transportation were less likely to report PrEP persistence (aOR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.28–0.95) than MSM using private transportation. There were no significant associations between PrEP persistence and using active transportation (aOR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.35–1.29) or multimodal transportation (aOR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.51–1.43) compared to using private transportation. Transportation-related interventions and policies are needed to address structural barriers to accessing PrEP services and to improve PrEP persistence in urban areas.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• pre-exposure prophylaxis
• mode of transportation
• urban
• men who have sex with men

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the study participants and research staff involved with the American Men’s Internet Survey 2020 cycle.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers P30AI050409 and R01MH110358].