Estimated proportion of an urban academic emergency department patient population eligible for HIV preexposure prophylaxis

ObjectivePre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective but underutilized method of HIV prevention. Emergency departments (EDs) have access to at-risk populations meeting CDC eligibility criteria for PrEP. Characterizing this population could help motivate, develop, and implement ED interventions to promote PrEP uptake.MethodsThis cross-sectional study explored the proportion of patients from an urban, academic ED who met CDC 2017 PrEP eligibility criteria using three existing datasets that mimic patient selection strategies for HIV screening: 1) study of consecutively approached ED patients from 2008 to 2009 (analogous to non-targeted screening), 2) patients of the ED's HIV screening program in 2017 (analogous to risk-targeted screening), and 3) electronic health record (EHR) diagnostic codes in 2017 (analogous to EHR selected screening). The primary outcome was the proportion eligible for PrEP referral. Secondary outcomes included proportion by risk group: men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexual men and women (HMW), and persons who inject drugs (PWID).ResultsThe proportion eligible for PrEP was: 568/1970 (28.8%, 95% CI: 26.9–30.9) for consecutively approached patients, 552/3884 (14%, 95% CI: 13–15) for risk-targeted patients, and 605/66287 (0.9%, 95% CI: 0.8–1.0) for EHR diagnoses of all patients. For the two datasets with behavioral risk information, the proportion eligible was: MSM 1–2%, HMW 12–28%, and PWID 1–4%.ConclusionsA large subgroup of this ED population was eligible for PrEP referral. EDs are a compelling setting for development and implementation of HIV prevention interventions to assist in national efforts to expand PrEP.