Table 2. Qualitative participants’ characteristics at start of the choice period (Month 12) and product decisions during the choice period.
| South Africa | Uganda | Zimbabwe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Total | 57 | (100) | 30 | (100) | 22 | (100) | 109 | (100) |
|
Demographics & Sexual Behavior Age–median (interquartile range) |
19 |
(18–20) |
20 |
( 19–20) |
19 |
(18–19) |
19 |
(18–20) |
| Currently in school | 30 | (54) | 0 | (0) | 2 | (9) | 32 | (30) |
| Earns income | 9 | (16) | 5 | (17) | 7 | (32) | 21 | (19) |
| Household members(*) | ||||||||
| Mother | 40 | (70) | 12 | (40) | 10 | (46) | 62 | (57) |
| Father | 10 | (18) | 3 | (10) | 6 | (27) | 19 | (17) |
| Siblings | 20 | (35) | 8 | (27) | 2 | (9) | 30 | (28) |
| Children | 4 | (7) | 1 | (3) | 1 | (5) | 6 | (6) |
| Grandparents | 2 | (4) | 1 | (3) | 1 | (5) | 4 | (4) |
| Husband/main partner/boyfriend | 1 | (2) | 4 | (13) | 8 | (36) | 13 | (12) |
| Other | 7 | (12) | 3 | (10) | 1 | (5) | 11 | (10) |
| Lives alone | 2 | (4) | 5 | (17) | 1 | (5) | 8 | (7) |
| Has a primary partner | 48 | (86) | 26 | (87) | 16 | (73) | 90 | (83) |
| New partner in past 3 months | 5 | (10) | 4 | (15) | 1 | (6) | 10 | (11) |
| Any vaginal sex in past 3 months | 49 | (88) | 23 | (77) | 13 | (59) | 85 | (79) |
| Received goods/money for sex- past 6months | 2 | (4) | 11 | (37) | 8 | (36) | 21 | (19) |
| Experienced physical violence from sex partner in past 6 months | 4 | (7) | 2 | (7) | 3 | (14) | 9 | (8) |
| Product choice at Month-12 | ||||||||
| Ring | 35 | (61) | 23 | (77) | 11 | (50) | 69 | (63) |
| Pills | 19 | (33) | 5 | (17) | 11 | (50) | 35 | (32) |
| Neither | 3 | (5) | 2 | (7) | 0 | (0) | 5 | (5) |
| Top reasons for choice (**): | ||||||||
| Among those choosing ring (N = 69) | ||||||||
| Ease of use/fit into lifestyle | 13 | (37) | 16 | (70) | 5 | (45) | 34 | (49) |
| Likes dosing frequency | 19 | (54) | 9 | (39) | 6 | (55) | 34 | (49) |
| Lack of problems or side effects | 8 | (23) | 4 | (17) | 0 | (0) | 12 | (17) |
| Among those choosing pills (N = 35) | ||||||||
| Discomfort or concerns with the ring | 4 | (20) | 1 | (20) | 4 | (36) | 9 | (26) |
| Most efficacious /systemic protection | 5 | (26) | 3 | (60) | 0 | (0) | 8 | (23) |
| Lack of problems or side effects | 5 | (26) | 1 | (20) | 0 | (0) | 8 | (22) |
| Ease of use/fit into lifestyle | 4 | (21) | 1 | (20) | 2 | (18) | 7 | (20) |
| Product switch during choice period: | 9 | (16) | 5 | (17) | 5 | (23) | 19 | (17) |
| Ring to pills | 4 | (7) | 0 | (0) | 1 | (9) | 5 | (5) |
| Pills to ring | 1 | (2) | 2 | (7) | 4 | (18) | 7 | (6) |
| Ring to neither | 3 | (5) | 3 | (10) | 0 | (0) | 6 | (6) |
| Neither to ring | 1 | (2) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 1 | (1) |
| Top reasons for switching (N = 19)(*): | ||||||||
| Experienced (new) side effects | 4 | (44) | 2 | (40) | 2 | (40) | 8 | (42) |
| Had use related issues | 3 | (33) | 1 | (20) | 3 | (60) | 7 | (37) |
| Wanted to take a break | 2 | (22) | 2 | (40) | 0 | (0) | 4 | (21) |
(*) While 57% of these participants lived with their mothers, and 17% with fathers, only 14% lived with both parents; 15% lived with >1 adult family member: mother/father/grandparents
(**) open ended responses from CRF coded into categories (and stratified by PrEP product)- top 3–4 ranking categories presented.