Reported viral non-suppression, missed ART doses and interest in long-acting injectable treatment among people living with HIV in Uganda

Abstract Background Interest in long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people reporting viral non-suppression or missed oral doses deserves attention as treatment options expand. We described interest within these clinical subgroups in a Ugandan survey. Methods This exploratory analysis included 116 people living with HIV on ART from the parent study’s locked 232-person roster. Interest meant willing or very willing to use injectable treatment. Viral status referred to the previous 12 months and missed doses to the previous 30 days. We calculated subgroup proportions with Wilson 95% confidence intervals (CIs), reporting groups below 10 participants as counts only. Sensitivity analysis included all 131 ART participants in the 251-record export. Results Overall, 104/116 participants expressed interest (89.7%, 95% CI 82.8–94.0). Interest was reported by 24/25 participants reporting non-suppression (96.0%, 80.5–99.3) and 80/90 reporting suppression (88.9%, 80.7–93.9). The difference was 7.1 percentage points (95% CI − 9.2 to 15.9). Interest was reported by 56/62 participants with no missed doses, 41/46 with 1–2 missed doses and seven of eight with three or more missed doses. Twenty-one of 25 participants reporting non-suppression also reported missed doses. Expanded-cohort results were similar: 118/131 expressed interest overall and 26/27 among those reporting non-suppression. Conclusions Interest was high across the clinical subgroups. These data do not establish greater or equivalent interest in any subgroup, clinical eligibility, or treatment benefit. Prospective studies should link preferences to verified clinical measures and observed injectable treatment outcomes.