Sociodemographic profile of users and discontinuation rate of HIV pre-exposure Prophylaxis after the expansion of access

Objective: To evaluate whether there was a change in the sociodemographic profile of users of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV and in the discontinuation/abandonment rate after the expansion of access to the entire population at increased risk of infection. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted with 180 (Group 1) and 205 (Group 2) users who started PrEP before and after the expansion of access, respectively. Results: Both groups presented the same sociodemographic profile, characterized by men, cisgender, homosexual, white, aged between 18 and 24 years, with more than 12 years of education, residing in the central region, and belonging to the target population of homosexuals and other men who have sex with men. Comparing the groups, it was observed that after the expansion of access, users aged 40 to 49 adhered to prophylaxis more (p=0.025), as well as those with 4 to 7 years of education (p=0.037). There was a 6.8% increase in the discontinuation rate, exceeding 50% of users in Group 2. Conclusion: The same profile of PrEP users is observed before and after the expansion of access; however, older users and those with lower education levels are adhering more to prophylaxis. The discontinuity rate remains high.