The Informal, Non-Prescribed Use of Antiretroviral Medications for PrEP Among a National US-Based Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mance E Buttram; Matthew S Ellis; Krishen D Samuel; Matthew Hayhurst

doi:10.1007/s10461-024-04589-4

The Informal, Non-Prescribed Use of Antiretroviral Medications for PrEP Among a National US-Based Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

AIDS Behav. 2024 Dec 30. doi: 10.1007/s10461-024-04589-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mance E Buttram^{1

2}, Matthew S Ellis³, Krishen D Samuel^{4

5}, Matthew Hayhurst^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. mance@uark.edu.
² Center for Public Health and Technology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. mance@uark.edu.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁴ Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
⁵ Center for Public Health and Technology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.

PMID: 39739280
DOI: 10.1007/s10461-024-04589-4

Abstract

This brief report presents findings on informal, non-prescribed PrEP use among an online sample of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (n = 196). Mean age was 33.4. Participants were Hispanic (13.3%), African American (15.8%), white (63.8%), and other race/ethnicity (6.6%). Informal PrEP users (11%) more frequently reported past year sexually transmitted infections (p < 0.001), group sex (p < 0.001), sex in public (p < 0.01), transactional sex (p < 0.001), ever receiving a formal PrEP prescription (p < 0.05), and ease of finding diverted HIV medications on gay dating/sex apps (p < 0.05). Formal PrEP uptake should be encouraged to mitigate potential negative consequences of informal use.

Keywords: GBM; HIV prevention; Informal PrEP; Men who have sex with men; PrEP; Sexual behaviors.