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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Adolesc Health. 2019 Nov 25;66(3):281–287. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.09.016

Table 4.

Side Effects and Interactions

Theme Example quotes
Theme 3.1 Modality-Specific Concerns Quote 21. Daily Oral: One con I had for PrEP was I heard that Truvada is such a potent medication that it does affect the liver heavily. So that's like a thing where I kind of don’t want to be on PrEP because it is affecting your body. I understand that all medications affect your body some way somehow, but when I heard that how potent the Truvada pill was compared to other medications, that kind of…[trails off]. (Focus Group D)

Quote 22. I wanted to know how harsh it was on the body. Speaking to people who are positive and have been taking medication for long periods of time and seeing that it's not good on their body, and so my question always is if you're using a medication that's an HIV medication, then how harsh is it? (Focus Group G)

Quote 23. Long-acting Injectable: My biggest concern with any type of medication or shots is when you have a medication or a shot that sustains you for that long, it has to have side effects.… So my question would be, what would be the side effects with that shot? Even though it’s a good thing, it's just, that's a little scary to me. Cuz it has to be strong, it has to be. (Focus Group D)

Quote 24. Monoclonal Antibodies: With the IV, seeing as how that's not a drug and that's an antibody, would that affect the antibodies that they already have inside their body? Like, does that mess with them in a way? That's still something foreign entering the body. Would your antibodies counter-react to those new ones now? (Focus Group D)
Theme 3.2 Drug Interactions Quote 25. So if you're on prep, like are there any other drugs that you're not allowed to take? […] both drugs like legal and illegal, are there any substances you're not allowed to take or mix with PrEP? (Focus Group D

Quote 26. What about if you smoke weed, because I smoke weed all the time. So would that affect me? (Focus Group C)
Theme 3.3 Multiple Modalities Quote 27. Back to what I asked about doubling up on things. Because people most likely use the shot, and then they still gonna use the lube anyway. (Focus Group D)

Quote 28. So what if I'm a person that wants to try how to take all of this in every way possible, would that mess me up? (Focus Group A)