ATN 168: HIV And Pregnancy Protection for Youth (HAPPY) – Discrete Choice Experiment

The ATN 168 study, HIV and Pregnancy Protection for Youth (HAPPY), will examine the values and preferences for a long-acting, multi-purpose prevention product that would prevent HIV and pregnancy in cisgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary people assigned female at birth. Long-acting products may have an advantage over other products, particularly in young people, because they are convenient, discreet, and do not require daily use to be effective. This new prevention product is in the early stages of development and incorporating end-user preferences will help ensure that the developed multi-purpose prevention product is acceptable to young people. Increased acceptability may mean that the product will be more likely used in the future. The ATN 168 study includes three steps, that all build on one another. The information gathered in Step 1 will inform the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) survey, which will be piloted in Step 2 and refined in Step 3.

SCRIPT:
Hey, thanks for joining us. We’re working on something exciting, a new product that can help protect against both pregnancy and HIV, made specifically for young people like you! This new product combines two licensed medications—one for HIV prevention and one for pregnancy prevention—into a single shot.

The best part? It can last anywhere from 2 to 6 months! The injection would be given in spots like your arm, stomach, or butt by a healthcare provider. It’s designed to be discreet, so you might not even notice it, though there could be a small lump about the size of a blueberry. We’re also considering splitting it into two smaller shots to make the lump even less noticeable.

Like with any medication, there are some possible side effects, like pain where you get the shot, spotting between periods, or maybe even weight gain. But don’t worry, if the side effects are too much, the shot could be removable.

Here’s where you come in! To make sure this product is what young people want, we’d like your help as co-designer. Your feedback will help us make sure this product reflects what you want most want! Your opinions are important, and we appreciate you taking your time to answer each question.

We are going to show you two products you could use for a combination birth control and HIV prevention shot. Both of them will prevent pregnancy and HIV but they will have different features. We will ask you to pick the one that you like best based on how we describe them.

For each one, we will tell you about the frequency of the shot, the location on your body for the shot, the pain you might feel from the shot, whether or how much the shot might affect your period, whether or how much the shot might affect your weight, the visibility of the shot after provided, and the number of shots received during your provider visit. Here's an example of one of the questions we'll ask you and we want to know which option you prefer.

Don’t forget to take your time, review each option carefully, and ask questions if you have any. Thank you for being a co-designer of this exciting new product, you're helping shape the future of health care for young people, and that’s huge!