Table 3.

Perceived Barriers to Uptake of PrEP Among Women

Barrier	Example quotes
Lack of communication among community members	Participant 1: “Black women, we think to always to be at the end because when the fight is there, we don't want anybody to think that we're at risk, whether it's for cancer, whether it's for – I mean, because a lot of these medications are not tested on black people, on black women. We're always at the end of that and that's because we don't participate in the researches that are coming out. We don't participate in things like this. We don't stand up and say I'm at risk.”
	Participant 2: “And say, hey, I have that too. I'm at risk too, or, hey, I have that. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.” (Dallas)
Mistrust of the medical institution	“I'm like, man, I don't think I can take that medicine because there's so much going on with the world now and how they're doing things with the technology with the fingerprints and all of that. I'm like, man, what if they're trying to put HIV, you know, [in people]? Now you got HIV and the person who didn't have HIV. So I think that will be the biggest problem in the United States when women and when people hear it because they're going to be thinking like, what if they're trying to inject something in me?” (Chicago)
Cost	“Income or price. It depends on how much it is or if you have Medicaid insurance (New Orleans).
Side effects	“The side effects. I would think about it even though it's — I mean, that's like if it would be something to stop me from vomiting but it will give me diarrhea, what side effects will it have on my body? Would it cause any problems to any organs? I don't want to lose a kidney just to stop me from having AIDS. So the side effects.” (New Orleans)
	“Yes, I would [bring it up to her doctor] because seeing that a lot of medications that you take, it doesn't coincide, okay, say you're a diabetic and your heart, that's why I was asking the risk factor in this, because being a diabetic, there can be other different things that you have. How would this medicine work in coherence with the regular medications that you're on? That's why I brought up the question about the side effects, because there are always side effects with any medication that you take. And that's my main concern, the risk factor in there.” (Chicago)
Stigma	“So if you're around a community of people who don't understand or they don't get it, then you may get the negative look or shunned. So that would kind of stop people from doing it or that would stop people from being open to doing it. But I think if people are widely educated and they understand the complications or the scenarios of what could possibly happen if not, then more people would be open to do it.” (Atlanta)
Newness of drug	“I would have to say not right now at this early stage. I would like to see a little more testing done and we could see a little more results done before I take the medication. “I don't want to be a guinea pig. That's what I'm saying. I don't want to be a guinea pig.” (Chicago)
Housing	“However, there are some people who don't have stable housing and they're moving from place to place, people who live in shelters, who live a life where they would be coming home with HIV and AIDS. That would be a hindrance for those people.” (New York)