Syphilis Diagnosis and Interest in Doxycycline Postexposure Prophylaxis Among Young Black Sexual and Gender Minorities
Background: Doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) is a low-cost, effective strategy for preventing syphilis and other bacterial sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men and transgender women, yet doxy-PEP remains underused by young black sexual and gender minorities (YBSGM). This analysis examined sociodemographic, sexual health, and substance use factors associated with interest in doxy-PEP among a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status-neutral cohort of YBSGM. Methods: The Neighborhoods and Networks Phase 2 (N2P2) cohort included YBSGM, and our primary outcome was interest in doxy-PEP. Generalized linear models were fit to calculate the unadjusted and adjusted relative risks (RRs) between interest in doxy-PEP and sociodemographic and health factors. Results: = .02) remained associated with interest in doxy-PEP. Conclusions: YBSGM who were interested in doxy-PEP were more likely to have had a syphilis diagnosis and participate in group sex. YBSGM with these risk factors represent an important demographic for the scale-up of doxy-PEP use.
Authors
- Jade Pagkas-Bather (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1003-3995)
- Ellen Almirol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9340-8635)
- Remund Wiger E
- Y T Chen
- J Knox
- J A Schneider
- D T Duncan
- M C Castro
- I Matthews
- A Hazra
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Open Forum Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofag176
- Primary Topic
- HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute on Drug Abuse