• Michelle Kaoru Takada-de-Souza, Camila de Melo Picone, Vivian Iida Avelino-Silva, Angela Carvalho Freitas, and Aluisio Cotrim Segurado.
• Departamento de Medicina Tropical e Infectologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2024 Jan 1; 79: 100419100419.

BackgroundHIV Pre-Exposure Pophylaxis (PrEP) is provided free of charge by the Brazilian national health system. Though effective in preventing HIV infection, little is known about its impact on the health-related Quality of Life (QoL) of users.ObjectiveThe present study aimed at assessing the impact of PrEP on the QoL of its users.MethodsProspective cohort study with 114 HIV-negative participants aged 18 years or older. Participants' QoL was assessed before starting PrEP and after 7 months of use, using the self-responsive WHOQOL-bref questionnaire. Sociodemographic and behavioral aspects were described and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsImprovement was seen in QoL scores for the environment domain (p = 0.02), which addresses feeling of physical safety, access to information and health services, and participation in leisure activities. Furthermore, participants reported improved satisfaction with their sex life, when questioned about the social relationships domain. There was no statistically significant change in the global QoL score, in the global health score, in the physical and psychological domains, nor in the total score for the social relationships domain. As for their socio-demographic profile, most participants were white and highly educated young cisgender men who have sex with men. 76.3% had unprotected sex in the 3 months before starting PrEP. 60.5% had reported substance use: marijuana (42.1%), club drugs (35.1%), and poppers (20.2%).ConclusionsThis study unveiled that PrEP benefited our cohort beyond its effectiveness in preventing HIV infection, having improved environmental aspects of QoL and self-satisfaction with sex life.Copyright © 2024 HCFMUSP. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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