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Recreational Use of HIV Antiretroviral Medication and Implications for HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Treatment

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Abstract

Diversion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for recreational use is concerning for countries with high HIV prevalence. This paper presents reports of recreational use of ART among adolescents from two HIV prevention studies in South Africa: (1) a cross-sectional survey of N = 200 adolescents and (2) a qualitative study of pre-exposure prophylaxis with N = 57 adolescents and N = 25 clinicians. Among adolescents, 3% used and 14% knew someone who used non-prescribed ART for recreational purposes. Administration included smoking (71%), snorting (15%), injecting (15%), ingesting (15%), and inserting (3%). Participants predicted increased crime as recreational use of ART increased. Future studies should investigate prevalence, composition, and diversion of ART from HIV prevention and treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Caroline Kuo, Teresa DeAtley & Don Operario

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Caroline Kuo, Jackie Hoare & Dan J. Stein

  3. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Danielle Giovenco

  4. Columbia Law School, New York, NY, USA

    Kristen Underhill

  5. Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa

    Millicent Atujuna

  6. South African Medical Research Council Health Systems Unit, Cape Town, South Africa

    Catherine Mathews

  7. South African Medical Research Council Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Cape Town, South Africa

    Dan J. Stein

  8. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Larry K. Brown

Authors
  1. Caroline Kuo
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  2. Danielle Giovenco
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  3. Teresa DeAtley
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  4. Jackie Hoare
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  5. Kristen Underhill
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  6. Millicent Atujuna
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  7. Catherine Mathews
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  8. Dan J. Stein
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  9. Larry K. Brown
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  10. Don Operario
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Correspondence to Caroline Kuo.

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Kuo, C., Giovenco, D., DeAtley, T. et al. Recreational Use of HIV Antiretroviral Medication and Implications for HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Treatment. AIDS Behav 24, 2650–2655 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02821-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02821-5

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