Adherence to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among men who have sex with men in Thanh Hoa province

Abstract

Objectives: To describe adherence to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Thanh Hoa province in 2024. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 men aged 16 years and older who had sex with men and were using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services from April 2024 to June 2024. Results showed that 21.2% of MSM had used PrEP for 12 months or longer. Among them, 87.2% of MSM used PrEP in combination with condom use during sexual intercourse; 2.9% of MSM reported forgetting to take their PrEP medication in the past month. Among those who missed doses, 81.8% forgot to take their medication for 1- 7 days, and 18.2% for more than 7 days. Common reminder methods included setting alarms (90.9%) and scheduling medication times (72.7%). When experiencing side effects, 91.4% of MSM reported them to PrEP clinic staff. Conclusions: Adherence-related practices still require strengthening in some areas. Therefore, communication interventions should be strengthened to ensure sustainable PrEP use among MSM.