Interest in event-driven PrEP among men who have sex with men using daily PrEP in Mexico in 2019–2020: a cross-sectional assessment in a large-scale demonstration project

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate the interest in event-driven PrEP (ED-PrEP) among men who have sex with men (MSM) using daily PrEP in Mexico's PrEP demonstration project between 2019 and 2020. We compared participants interested or not in ED-PrEP during their first-month visit and identified associated factors. Of 1,021 MSM attending their first-month visit, 7% had previous knowledge of ED-PrEP, but 40% were interested in ED-PrEP. However, over 50% perceived the scheme as less protective than daily PrEP. Having doubts about ED-PrEP’s level of protection was related to less interest in the scheme (aOR = 0.11; CI = 0.07–0.18), just like reporting perceived barriers such as having frequent sex (aOR = 0.06; CI = 0.03–0.14), unplanned sex (aOR = 0.17; CI = 0.11–0.27), forgetting the medicine (aOR = 0.06; CI = 0.03–0.12), or difficulty carrying the medicine (aOR =   0.13; CI = 0.07–0.25). Finally, reporting not taking PrEP for >20 days in the last month (aOR = 0.05; CI = 0.01–0.27) diminished interest in ED-PrEP. In conclusion, few MSM daily PrEP users knew about ED-PrEP yet many were interested in it, suggesting the importance of awareness campaigns regarding ED-PrEP’s effectiveness. The lack of interest in ED-PrEP among participants with poor adherence to daily PrEP indicates that they might prefer long-acting PrEP or HIV prevention strategies without medication.

KEYWORDS:

• (PrEP) pre-exposure prophylaxis
• risk factors
• gay men / MSM

Acknowledgements

The IMPrEP Study was implemented in Brazil, Peru, and Mexico with the leadership of Brazil's PI, Dr. Valdiléa G. Veloso. We thank all staff at ImPrEP-Mexico’s sites: CHECCOS, México Vivo, SETAC, and Clínica Condesa. Finally, we thank all participants for providing information to generate scientific evidence.

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by UNFPA-UNITAID [grant number MEX07SRH]; United Nations Population Fund.