Changes in mental and sexual health among MSM using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: longitudinal analysis of the SwissPrEPared cohort study.
Winter, Babette L;
Hovaguimian, Frédérique;
Kouyos, Roger D;
Schmidt, Axel Jeremias;
Bernasconi, Enos;
Braun, Dominique L;
Calmy, Alexandra;
Notter, Julia;
Stoeckle, Marcel;
Surial, Bernard;
+15 more...Christinet, Vanessa;
Cavassini, Matthias;
Depmeier, Carsten;
Läuchli, Severin;
Boffi El Amari, Emmanuelle;
Reinacher, Matthias;
Rasi, Manuela;
Bruggmann, Philip;
Haerry, David;
Bize, Raphaël;
Low, Nicola;
Lehner, Andreas;
Quednow, Boris B;
Fehr, Jan S;
Hampel, Benjamin;
(2022)
Changes in mental and sexual health among MSM using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: longitudinal analysis of the SwissPrEPared cohort study.
Swiss medical weekly, 152 (2526).
w30192-.
ISSN 1424-7860
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2022.w30192
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BACKGROUND: Changes in mental and sexual health among men having sex with men (MSM) due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remain unclear. METHODS: Design: Longitudinal analysis of an ongoing, multicentre, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) cohort (NCT03893188) in Switzerland. Participants: HIV-negative MSM aged ≥18 who completed at least one questionnaire before and one after the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Outcomes: Primary: mental health, defined as anxiety and depression scores assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-4. Secondary: sexual behaviour, well-being, PrEP use and disruption of care. Outcomes were assessed over seven periods corresponding to different SARS-CoV-2 prevention measures in Switzerland. We performed pairwise comparisons between periods (Wilcoxon signed rank test). RESULTS: Data from 1,043 participants were included. Whilst anxiety scores remained stable over time, depression scores worsened in the second wave and the second lockdown period compared to pre-pandemic scores. This was confirmed by pairwise comparisons (pre-SARS-CoV-2/second wave and pre-SARS-CoV-2/second lockdown: p <0.001). Downward trends in sexual activity,sexualized substance use, and a switch from daily to "event-driven" PrEP were found. Disruption of care affected 42.6% (790/1856) of daily PrEP users' follow-up visits. CONCLUSION: In this longitudinal analysis of a PrEP cohort enrolling MSM, depression scores worsened in the second wave and the second lockdown compared to the pre-pandemic period.
