In this Research Roundtable video, I’m joined by my colleague Betsy Tolley to discuss her coauthored paper on the acceptability and effectiveness of a long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option.
As of today, HIV PrEP is available only in the form of a daily oral pill. It is highly effective at preventing HIV but only if taken correctly and consistently. Researchers are actively working to expand how PrEP can be administered. One example is through a long-acting injection using a novel HIV drug called cabotegravir. A long-acting injection removes the need for daily adherence and may improve health outcomes overall. In our discussion, Betsy and I talk about what research participants find acceptable about long-acting injectable PrEP – and what they don’t. Betsy also describes how she and her colleagues were able to conduct this acceptability research within a larger clinical trial using a questionnaire that will allow comparisons across studies.
Betsy recently wrote a blog post about the paper. You can also read the full research paper (2019), which was made possible by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN 077).
