Impact of Food Insecurity on HIV Prevention

 LGBTQ+ individuals are disproportionately vulnerable to food insecurity, housing instability, and other unmet material needs due to social and systematic discrimination and oppression. 

These populations overly affected by food insecurity and other unmet material needs are also those most vulnerable for HIV particularly young sexual minority men (SMM) and SMM of color. 

Current HIV prevention efforts are focused on increasing uptake of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), however experts suggest that disparities in uptake are likely due to limited healthcare access and financial barriers like out-of-pocket costs. Current data suggests that food insecurity is associated with increased vulnerability for HIV seroconversion based on behavioral and financial factors. 

The purpose of this study was to 1) collect additional detailed data on food insecurity and other material deprivation (i.e. housing instability), and 2) conduct a brief discrete choice experiment (DCE) to better understand participants’ financial decision-making (e.g. rent/mortgage payments, car payments) as they relate to cost barriers for PrEP using the Together 5,000 cohort.