All that’s required for testing is a small bit of hair from the back of the head, cut close to the scalp. It’s easy and quick, but even so, acceptance was only 55% in the trial. “Where it seems to not be accepted in this country is in men who have sex with men.” Sometimes patients worry about their hairstyle, but “it isn’t very disruptive because it’s a very small amount of hair,” she said.
Bleaching is the only hair treatment that seems to affect ARV levels, reducing them. Short hair is fine, but it keeps less of a record over time. In general, “hair levels are more helpful in PrEP than in treatment, because in treatment we need a real time point of care test” for adherence, Dr. Gandhi said; her team has come up with a urine screen for tenofovir that looks promising.
The mean age in the study was 38 years. About a third of the subjects were women, and a third were black. The findings were similar for men and women.
The drugs in the trial were provided by their manufacturers. Dr. Gandhi had no relevant disclosures.
SOURCE: Gandhi M et al. Abstract 24.