Preferences for long‐acting pre‐exposure prophylaxis among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Taiwan: findings from the 2021 HEART Survey

Abstract

Introduction

While various antiretrovirals have been studied as potential candidates for long‐acting pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the bimonthly injectable cabotegravir —the first long‐acting form of PrEP—was approved in 2021. Event‐driven (ED) PrEP has been the most prevalent dosing regimen among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in Taiwan, providing a unique setting to observe the preferences for long‐acting PrEP in a community where the daily regimen is not the mainstream method. This study aimed to determine the preferences for the different forms and dosing intervals of long‐acting PrEP that are currently in the development pipeline.

Methods

We conducted a survey in 2021 by convenience sampling the users of social networking applications for GBMSM in Taiwan. Our survey included questions on sexual behaviours, current PrEP regimens and the preferences for potential candidates of long‐acting PrEP, such as implants, intramuscular and subcutaneous injections. We compared the Likert‐scale preference ratings for potential long‐acting options, and conducted logistic regression analysis to examine the factors associated with a preference for bimonthly intramuscular injections (2M IM) over ED and daily PrEP regimens, respectively.

Results

A total of 1728 responses were eligible for analysis. Three percent of respondents ( n = 52) were daily PrEP users; 11.5% ( n = 198) were ED PrEP users. When not considering cost, current PrEP users—regardless of their original dosing regimen—were most likely to express preferences for monthly oral PrEP, followed by a 6‐month subcutaneous injectable (6M SC) and 2M IM. However, among non‐current PrEP users, monthly oral PrEP was the most preferred form, followed by ED, daily oral and 6M SC injectable. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that current daily users, those willing to take PrEP in the next 6 months and those with more sex partners in the last 12 months had a significant correlation with preferences for the 2M IM injectable over the ED PrEP.

Conclusions

The monthly oral form was the most preferable long‐acting PrEP among GBMSM in Taiwan. Current daily PrEP users preferred the 2M IM injectable over the ED PrEP, which made the 2M IM injectable a potential alternative. Further studies should focus on how the cost and delivery affect PrEP preferences and their actual uptake.