Table 1.

Differences between antiretroviral therapy (ART) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as used outside of clinical trials.

	ART	PrEP
Users	Everyone living with HIV needs or will need treatment at some point	Only those at high risk for HIV-infection are appropriate for PrEP
Regimen	ART must be taken every day on a fixed schedule to be effective	PrEP may still provide protection if taken less than daily, depending on adherence patterns and route and timing of HIV exposures
Motivation	ART treats a fatal infection; individual health benefits are clear	PrEP prevents a fatal infection
Duration	Treatment is presently taken for life	PrEP can be selected for periods of high risk and not used at other times
Alternatives	No alternative provides what treatment offers	PrEP users may choose other effective HIV prevention tools
Psychosocial factors	Relevant factors include stigma of being infected and depression	Relevant factors include a presumption of being HIV-infected and/or promiscuous
Access	ART is available in most settings, although cost and transportation may be barriers	PrEP is primarily available through studies and projects, although available in some clinical settings