Factors Associated with Awareness of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in Philadelphia: National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, 2015

Persons who inject drugs (PWID) continue to experience disproportionate HIV burden. Though studies demonstrate PWID find pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) acceptable, awareness and uptake remains low. Data from the 2015 PWID cycle of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (n = 612) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) were analyzed to evaluate how socio-demographics and behavioral factors impact PrEP awareness. Only 12.4% of PWID surveyed were PrEP-aware and 2.6% reported receiving a prescription. Factors associated with PrEP awareness included having at least some college education (aOR 2.13, 95% CI 1.03, 4.43), sharing paraphernalia (aOR 2.37, 95% CI 1.23, 4.56), obtaining syringes/needles primarily from a syringe exchange program (aOR 2.28, 95% CI 1.35, 3.87), STI testing (aOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.01, 2.89) and drug treatment (aOR 2.81, 95% CI 1.62, 4.87). Accessing prevention and health services increased the odds of being PrEP-aware; however, awareness was low overall. Additional promotion efforts are warranted.