Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis in the Emergency Department (PrEPPED)

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Provision in the Emergency Department (PrEPPED): A Pilot Feasibility Study

Despite an increasing armamentarium of behavioral and biomedical HIV prevention methods, since 2010 rates of new infection have remained around 40,000 annually. The demonstrated efficacy and subsequent approval of emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV by the FDA in 2012 was thought to represent a turning point that could significantly reduce the number of new infections. Since approval, the promise of PrEP as a transformative intervention has yet to be realized. Despite the implementation of systems for clinical evaluation for and initiation of PrEP by primary care providers, HIV specialists, and STI clinics, numerous barriers to PrEP expansion have been identified, including: 1) patient and provider lack of knowledge, 2) lack of access to medical care among high-risk individuals, 3) provider discomfort and inexperience with screening for risk behaviors, and 4) insurance and affordability. This proposal seeks to expand access to and engagement in PrEP among high risk individuals though an innovative delivery approach in the Emergency Department (ED) while addressing these four barriers.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HIV/AIDS; PrEP
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: PrEP screening program; Other: PrEP starter pack

Detailed Description

Aim 1: Initiate a targeted ED-based PrEP screening program and optimize its feasibility and acceptability.

1. Behavioral risk factor eligibility screening will be performed using the ICAP Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Screening for Substantial Risk and Eligibility tool.
2. During a 3-month period, use continuous quality improvement methods to decrease the time for completion of PrEP eligibility screening to an interval that is acceptable to ED patients and providers.

Aim 2: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Provision in the ED (PrEPPED) Trial:

Identify 40 PrEP eligible patients over a 12-month period who are interested in initiating PrEP in the ED. These patients will be offered immediate PrEP (iPrEP) initiation in the ED with facilitated linkage to comprehensive out-patient care.

1. Evaluate the impact of a PrEP "starter pack" on patients agreeing to iPrEP. The primary outcome is engagement in care at 30-days post PrEP initiation visit. Secondary outcomes include retention in care, STI diagnosis, risk behavior and PrEP adherence.
2. Collect data on recruitment and attrition rates, as well as means and standard deviations for key measures that will be needed to plan a definitive trial of ED-initiated PrEP.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 26
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10003
      • Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

PrEP screen group:

• Patients 18 years of age and above
• Medically stable as determined by their provider
• Able to speak English
• Willing and able to consent to study participation.
• Not requiring hospital admission for ongoing care.

iPrep group:

• ED patients 18 years of age and above
• HIV negative determined by 4th generation rapid testing with no evidence of acute HIV infection as determined by their ED provider
• Medically stable as determined by their primary provider
• Able to speak English
• Able to consent to participation
• Contact information available for linkage
• Not requiring hospital admission for ongoing care.
• Eligible for PrEP based on CDC risk behavior and clinical criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

PrEP screen group:

• ED patients younger than 18 years of age
• Medically or psychiatrically unstable as determined by the ED provider
• Unable to speak or understand English
• Unable to provide consent for study participation.
• Being admitted to the hospital for ongoing care

iPrEP group:

• ED patients younger than 18 years of age
• Known HIV positive or positive rapid HIV test in ED
• Medically or psychiatrically unstable as determined by the ED provider
• Unable to speak or understand English
• Unable to provide consent for study participation
• No means of re-contact upon ED discharge
• No behavioral risk factors indicating need for PrEP
• Medical contraindications to PrEP
• Pregnant or breastfeeding

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Screening
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate PreP initiation; PreP screening program with immediate PrEP (iPrEP) initiation in the ED using a PrEP "starter pack" with facilitated linkage to care.	Other: PrEP screening program; ICAP Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Screening for Substantial Risk and Eligibility tool; Other: PrEP starter pack; emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide or emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil
Active Comparator: Out-patient care for PrEP initiation; PrEP screening program with referral to out-patient care for PrEP initiation	Other: PrEP screening program; ICAP Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Screening for Substantial Risk and Eligibility tool
Experimental: PreP Screening Program; Part 1: Targeted ED-based patients	Other: PrEP screening program; ICAP Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Screening for Substantial Risk and Eligibility tool

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Engagement in Care (Implementation Component)	Engagement is care is defined by attending at least 1 out-patient clinic appointment with a PrEP provider within 30-days of the ED visit.	30 days post-ED visit
Number of Participants on PrEP Usage		90 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
PrEPPED Satisfaction and Acceptability Survey (RCT Component)	PrEPPED Satisfaction and Acceptability Survey is a patient satisfaction questionnaire was developed by the study team. It's a series of independent Likert questions from 1-6 addressing different aspects of the program. Full scale from 0 to 18, with higher score indicating more satisfaction. Satisfaction data were not collected at 30, 60, or 90 days. After study initiation, it was determined by the researchers that the satisfaction items were specific to the emergency department visit experience and not relevant to the follow-up period. Consequently, decision was made to not administer the follow-up satisfaction assessments, therefore, no data was collected so there is no data to report.	30 days post-ED visit
The VSQ-9 is a Visit-specific Satisfaction Instrument (RCT Component)	The VSQ-9 is a visit-specific satisfaction instrument adapted by the American Medical Guidelines Regimen Information Program (GRIP) survey. GRIP guide is a self-report to assess PrEP adherence at 30-days post ED visit, with 6 categorical items: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor, and very poor. Because participants were not required to follow up at a single clinic, post-discharge care settings varied widely. The VSQ-9 assesses satisfaction with a specific clinical encounter, and applying it across multiple, non-standardized settings was deemed inappropriate and unlikely to yield interpretable data. Therefore, decision was made by the researcher to not administer the VSQ-9 at 30, 60, or 90 days. Consequently, no follow-up VSQ-9 data were collected so there is no data to report.	30 days post-ED visit
CDC Sexual Behavior Questions (CSBQ) (RCT Component)	CDC Sexual Behavior Questions (CSBQ) to measure HIV risk behavior. CSBQ is a multi-tiered, gender-specific questionnaire developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV-STID Behavioral Surveillance Working Group. Three separate domains - Sexual Behavior, Drug-related HIV risk, and HIV testing. Responses are yes/no with no summation. Number of participants who engaged in unsafe sexual behavior, was under substance influence and who had a HIV test.	30 days post-ED visit
Number of Participants of New STI Diagnoses (RCT Component)	Number of new STI diagnosis between day 1 (day after enrollment) and day 90 (final day of follow-up) broken down into days 1-30, 31-60, 61-90.	30 days, 60 days, and 90 days post-ED visit
Number of Participants of New HIV Infection (RCT Component)	Number of new HIV diagnosis at 90-days after enrollment. This question was only asked for those individuals who had not been lost to follow-up.	90 days post-ED visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ethan Cowan, MD, ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 18, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 31, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): June 12, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Feasibility; Implementation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Blood-Borne Infections; Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Slow Virus Diseases; HIV Infections; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: GCO 19-2596

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No