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Abstract Background Advances in biomedical HIV prevention will soon offer young women a choice of HIV prevention methods, including various pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) modalities such as daily oral pills, dapivirine vaginal ring, and long-acting injectable agents. By understanding preferences for contraceptive methods, we may draw analogies for the HIV prevention needs of young women. The UChoose Study was an open-label randomised cross-over study designed to evaluate the acceptability and preference for several contraceptive options as a proxy for HIV prevention methods that use similar types of administration. The study enrolled healthy HIV uninfected young women aged 15 to 19 years. At enrolment, participants were randomly assigned to a contraceptive method for a period of 16 weeks in the form of monthly Nuvaring® (vaginal ring), daily combined oral contraceptive (daily pills), or bi-monthly injectable contraceptive (injectable). After 16 weeks, participants crossed over to another contraceptive method, and those who had received the injectable and the daily pills received the vaginal ring for another 16 weeks, whereas those who had received the vaginal ring were able to choose between the injectable and daily pills, to ensure that all participants tried the vaginal ring—the least familiar option to the study population. Results Thirty-three participants were purposively recruited to participate in seven focus group discussions (FGD) and completed a pre-survey for their assigned group. Our sample comprised 14 participants randomised to use of the vaginal ring and daily pills and 19 participants randomised to use of the vaginal ring and injectable. For most participants, their preferences for a prevention method were based primarily on their desire to avoid negative aspects of one method rather than their positive user experience with another method. Most participants expressed initial hesitancy for trying new contraception method products; however, a lack of familiarity was moderated by a strong interest in diverse user-controlled prevention methods. Participants valued methods that had infrequent dosing and simplified use requirements. The injection and vaginal ring were preferred over daily pills as a potential HIV prevention method. Conclusion Expanding the availability of diverse products could provide adolescents with multiple choices in HIV prevention for the uninitiated. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02404038 ). Registered March 31, 2015—Registered.

IntroductionOral, vaginal and other pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) products for HIV prevention are in various stages of development. Low adherence poses a serious challenge to successful evaluation in trials. In a previous study, we developed tools to screen for general adherence and specifically monitor intravaginal ring adherence within the context of HIV prevention clinical trials. This study aimed to further validate the screening tool and to adapt and provide initial psychometric validation for an oral pill monitoring tool.Materials and methodsWe administered a cross-sectional survey between June and October 2018 at a trial site located near Cape Town, South Africa, and another in Thika, Kenya, with 193 women who had experience using daily oral pills. We fit confirmatory factor analysis models on the screening tool items to assess our previously-hypothesized subscale structure. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis of oral PrEP monitoring items to determine the underlying subscale structure. We then assessed the construct validity of each tool by comparing subscales against each other within the current sample and against our original sample, from a study conducted in four sites in South Africa, including Cape Town.ResultsThe screening tool structure showed moderate evidence of construct validity. As a whole, the tool performed in a similar way to the original sample. The monitoring tool items, which were revised to assess perceptions about and experiences using daily oral PrEP, factored into five subscales that showed moderate to good reliability. Four of the five subscales had a similar structure overall to the vaginal ring monitoring tool from which they were adapted.ConclusionsAccurate measurement of HIV-prevention product adherence is of critical importance to the assessment of product efficacy and safety in clinical trials, and the support of safe and effective product use in non-trial settings. In this study, we provide further validation for these measures, demonstrating the screening tool's utility in additional populations and adapting the monitoring tool's utility for different HIV-prevention products.

IntroductionThere is limited understanding of how social dynamics impact pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) adherence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in generalized HIV-epidemic settings. We examined experiences of oral PrEP use disclosure to various social groups with the goal of identifying supportive relationships that can be leveraged to promote adherence.MethodsWe used qualitative methods to explore experiences disclosing PrEP use and the perceived impact of disclosure on adherence among 22 South African AGYW (16-25 years) taking daily oral PrEP. Serial in-depth-interviews (IDIs) were conducted 1-, 3-, and 12-months post-PrEP initiation. Respondents also self-reported their disclosures separately for various social groups and adherence was assessed using intracellular tenofovir-diphosphate levels.ResultsQualitative respondents had a median age of 20.5 years and reported disclosing their PrEP use to friends (n = 36 total disclosures), partners, siblings, other family members (n = 24 disclosures each), and parents (n = 19 disclosures). IDI data revealed that parents and partners provided the most support to respondents and a lack of support from these groups was most often perceived as negatively affecting PrEP use. AGYW described difficulties explaining PrEP to their mothers, who believed PrEP was HIV treatment or would lead to HIV infection. Disclosure to household members was notably meaningful for AGYW (both positively and negatively). Respondents reported leveraging supportive relationships for pill reminders. For respondents who perceived a household member would be unsupportive, however, non-disclosure was less feasible and PrEP use was often stigmatized. To avoid stigma, several respondents hid or discontinued PrEP.ConclusionsWhile supportive relationships may facilitate PrEP use, disclosure can also lead to stigma. Counselors should support AGYW in disclosing to key people in their social networks and provide AGYW with materials that lend credibility to explanations of PrEP. Community education is necessary to alleviate PrEP-related stigma and facilitate disclosure.

Background: There is an urgent need to find effective interventions that reduce young South African women’s vulnerability to HIV, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective when taken consistently. As national programs in Africa launch PrEP programs for young women, it is critical to understand how to effectively create awareness, stimulate interest, and increase uptake of PrEP. Methods: Behavior-centered design (BCD) guided the development of a PrEP social marketing campaign for young women. Ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions with young South African women informed the content and design of a 90-second PrEP demand creation video and two informational brochures. A short survey was administered to young women at their homes after watching a video to evaluate PrEP interest. Of 800 households with a 16-25-year-old female identified from a Cape Town township census, 320 women in these households viewed the video and completed a survey about the video and their interest in PrEP. Results: In focus groups, young women from the township preferred local characters and messaging that was empowering, simple, and motivational. From the household survey of young women who viewed the video, most reported interest in learning more about PrEP (67.7% ‘definitely interested’ and 9.4% ‘somewhat interested’) and taking PrEP (56.4% ‘definitely interested’ and 12.5% ‘somewhat interested’). Factors significantly associated with interest in taking PrEP were having a primary partner with whom they regularly have sex (80.0% vs. 65.2% without a primary partner; adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=3.1, 95% CI: 1.3, 7.0) and being in a sexual partnership for 12 months; AOR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.2, 7.3). Conclusions: A positively framed PrEP demand creation video generated high interest in PrEP among young South African women, particularly among women with a primary partner and a shorter-term relationship. Registration: NCT03142256; registered on 5 May 2017.