Women who use drugs reported low awareness of PrEP, according to findings published in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. Caroline Darlington, MSN, WHNP-BC, and colleagues examined data from 233 cisgender women living in cities who were considered eligible for PrEP. In the 3 months before study enrollment, 63.1% of individuals reported drug use, and 42% reported use of multiple drugs. Most participants (75%) reported getting high or drunk before sex, and 44% had been enrolled in drug treatment. Less than half of all participants (41.2%) viewed themselves as at risk for HIV infection, and only 41.6% knew about PrEP before the study. However, 62.7% of women reported an intention to start PrEP after they were told about it. Compared with other PrEP-eligible women, women who reported prescription opioid use and use of multiple drugs perceived themselves to be at higher risk for HIV and had greater intentions to initiate PrEP. However, those individuals, as well as women who reported injecting drugs, also reported lower awareness of PrEP
