What Matters Most for Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy? A Best-Worst Scaling Discrete Choice Experiment.

Introduction: Florida remains a high-incidence, high-prevalence setting for HIV. Long-acting (LA) antiretroviral therapies (ART) could improve HIV-related outcomes and reduce transmission. This study identifies preferred LA ART characteristics and classes of preference among people with HIV (PWH) in Florida.

Methods: The Florida Cohort enrolls adult PWH from six counties. In February 2023, a best-worst scaling discrete choice experiment (BWDCE) was added which included 12 tasks with three alternatives and an opt-out (i.e., their current regimen). Six attributes were included: treatment type (e.g., shot), long-term effects, side effects, location (e.g., at home), effectiveness, and frequency. A Hierarchical Bayes model was used to estimate level utilities, attribute importance was calculated, and a latent class model was run in Sawtooth Software.

Results: Overall, 208 PWH participated (60% aged 50+, 49% non-Hispanic Black, 54% male). Treatment type had the greatest impact on preference [27.2% (95%CI 25.1-29.3)], followed by frequency [23.4% (95%CI 21.6-25.2)], and long-term effects [19.0% (95%CI 17.8-20.3)]. Within treatment type, LA pills were preferred over other options, including their current regimen. Less frequent administration was preferred, but only yearly administration was preferred over their current regimen. Within long-term effects, participants preferred no increase in risk. Two classes were identified where one class (27% of participants) preferred their current regimen and the other (73% of participants) preferred an alternative, placing greater importance on frequency.

Conclusion: PWH preferred LA pills and less frequent administration, so future ART development could focus on options with these traits. Further exploration of user preference classes is needed.