HIV post-exposure prophylaxis in vulnerable populations: a retrospective longitudinal study in a public health outpatient clinic in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2015-2018

Abstract

Objective: To describe the profile of people who initiated HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in a public health service, evaluating the use of this technology by key populations as recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Methods: This was a retrospective longitudinal study using secondary data on service users receiving care between 2015-2018. Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated and Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare behavioral characteristics. Results: Of the 270 people evaluated, there was a higher frequency of young adults (45.4%), males (74.7%), people of white race/skin color (76.3%), with a high level of education (65.7%) and with multiple sex partners (40.7%). Among the key populations, there was a higher frequency of people who use alcohol and/or other drugs (49.6%) and men who have sex with men (38.1%), while transgender people (2.2%) and sex workers (4.8%) used PEP less. Conclusion: The use of PEP was not homogeneous among the vulnerable groups evaluated, with low frequency of transgender people and sex workers.