Baseline characteristics of early PrEP adopters in New Zealand

Abstract

BASELINE CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY PREP ADOPTERS IN NEW ZEALAND P.Saxton¹, S.Azariah2, M.Reid2, R.Franklin2, R. Forster2, S.Werder2, R.Jenkins2, J.Myers3, J.Rich3, W.Te Wake3, J.Kolodziej4, M.Fisher4 ¹ School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland ² Auckland Regional Sexual Heath Service, Auckland 3 New Zealand AIDS Foundation, Auckland 4 Body Positive, Auckland Aim: To identify baseline characteristics of gay and bisexual men accessing funded pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at a sexual health service. The long-term aim is to monitor factors associated with suboptimal PrEP adherence and behaviour change including risk compensation. Method: Participants enrolled in the NZPrEP demonstration project (max n=150) at Auckland Sexual Health Service were invited to complete an online baseline survey using a link emailed by clinic staff. Data were stored and analysed remotely at the University of Auckland. Items included PrEP awareness, motivation and beliefs, condomless anal intercourse (CAI), drug use, HIV and STI screening and socio-demographics. Results: We recruited 64 participants after three months of whom 44% were non-European and 98% identified as gay, with a median age of 31 years (range 19-54). More than 95% had heard of PrEP and had tested for HIV or STIs previously. On entry, participants reported a high number of CAI partners (range 1-60, median 5.5), with 36% reporting 10 or more CAI partners and 47% reporting group sex in the last 3 months. Overall 64% reported any STI and 27% a rectal STI in the previous year, and 54% had used drugs recently. Almost a third (30%) believed they were likely to contract HIV in the next few years, 89% believed PrEP would keep them HIV negative, 38% believed missing PrEP for a day wouldn’t matter long-term, and 22% worried about becoming too dependent on PrEP. Conclusion: Early PrEP adopters are at high risk of HIV, satisfying the study aims. Updated findings will be presented.