Lessons for Patient Education Around Long-Acting Injectable PrEP: Findings from a Mixed-Method Study of Phase II Trial Participants

Kathrine Meyers, Kristina Rodriguez, Atrina L. Brill, Yumeng Wu, Melissa La Mar, Debora Dunbar, Beryl Koblin, David Margolis, Magdalena E. Sobieszczyk, Hong Van Tieu, Ian Frank, Martin Markowitz, Sarit A. Golub

This study aimed to identify patients' physical and psychosocial experiences of an investigational long-acting injectable PrEP product to aid in the development of patient and provider education materials. Twenty-eight participants of a Phase 2 safety, tolerability, and acceptability study of long-acting integrase inhibitor cabotegravir (CAB-LA) were interviewed on their physical and psychosocial experiences of the injections. Five themes emerged through a framework analysis on these interview transcripts: (1) injection-related pain is highly variable across individuals; (2) pain is more impactful after the injections than during; (3) patient anxiety is critical, but does not determine the experience of injections and decreases over time; (4) intimacy and awkwardness of gluteal injections impacts patients' experiences; (5) patient education and care strategies can mitigate the above factors. These findings can inform further sociobehavioral research within Phase 3 efficacy trials of CAB-LA, as well as patient education and provider guidance for future injectable PrEP products.