Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, Anxiety, Depression and Sexual SatisfactionAmong Men Who Have Sex With Men

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been implemented as a prevention against HIV; however, its impact on mental health, sexual and life satisfaction has not been addressed.

Method: We assessed 114 HIV-negative participants from Spain with ages ranging from 19 to 58 years; 60.5% were PrEP users ( n = 69) and 39.5% were non-users ( n = 45). They completed five questionnaires about life and sexual satisfaction, depression and anxiety. We performed correlations and multiple regression analyses.

Results: The PrEP group showed a statistically significant relationship between better sexual satisfaction, and greater life satisfaction. The PrEP group also showed a statistically significant negative relationship with depression and anxiety which was not found in PrEP non-users. Moreover, we found that younger PrEP users had higher scores in anxiety and lower scores in depression than older users. The hierarchical regression analyses also showed that number of sexual partners was a major predictor in the PrEP group for NSSS.

Conclusions: The indirect correlation between sexual satisfaction, depression, and anxiety in the PrEP group could underly the benefits of PrEP for patients' sex lives such as increased sexual liberties due to lower anxiety and mental comfort when experiencing chemsex.