Using epidemiological data to explore the impact of mental health and substance use disorder treatment facilities and family planning clinic availability on pre-exposure prophylaxis use for women in the U.S.

Abstract

Ending the HIV epidemic by 2030 is partly dependent on preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but usage has been markedly low among women. This study sought to determine if access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and family planning clinics have an impact on women's PrEP uptake. Using epidemiological data from publicly available data sources, we employed a difference-in-differences design to quantify the effect of the availability of these facilities on PrEP rate and PrEP-to-need ratio across all 50 states. We found that mental health and substance use disorder treatment had a small effect on PrEP rate for males 0.9% (0.888), but there was no effect on female PrEP outcomes. The availability of family planning clinics was found to be associated with an 8.1% (-0.664) decrease in PrEP rate among females. We concluded that PrEP is not being adequately implemented in mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and family planning clinics, suggesting missed opportunities. These facilities are excellent venues for promoting PrEP adoption as they already reach women susceptible to HIV. The focus should be on embedding PrEP-related care into existing standards of care in these settings to increase PrEP uptake among women who would benefit from PrEP.