# Optimizing Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use among Adolescent Girls and Young Women Seeking Reproductive Health Care in Kenya

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $46,020

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
This proposal aims to investigate the factors that shape Kenyan adolescent girls and young women's (AGYW)
experiences of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The “PrEP cascade” specifies measurable benchmarks
from which the implementation of PrEP programs can be assessed to optimize and determine program
engagement. PrEP cascade outcomes include the frequency of PrEP initiation, refills and adherence at 1-, 3-,
and 6-months, and long-term PrEP program retention among HIV-negative individuals with HIV risk. Kenyan
AGYW, between the ages of 15-24, face parallel epidemics of HIV and unintended pregnancy and have a ≥2-
fold higher incidence of HIV than their male counterparts. Integration of PrEP within post-abortion care (PAC)
settings is a crucial step in successfully strengthening the prevention of HIV among AGYW, especially in view of
the age-specific social and psychological vulnerabilities of AGYW. Several programs integrating PrEP into family
planning or maternal and health services cite frequent PrEP discontinuation, especially among AGYW. This
project will leverage an ongoing PrEP scale-up project in PAC clinics in Kenya to identify challenges that AGYW
face in PrEP use. This study seeks to address a critical gap in HIV prevention research and PrEP scale-up by:
1) assessing PrEP cascade outcomes in a socioecological framework of individual, interpersonal, and contextual
factors; 2) measuring adolescent sexual and reproductive health empowerment, with a novel and adapted tool,
in association with PrEP program retention; and 3) evaluating prevention-effective adherence in the alignment
between sexual behaviors and PrEP adherence, measured through point-of-care urine assay. By integrating
research grounded in behavioral science and clinical epidemiology methods, the research will provide a holistic
perspective of adolescent experiences that influence PrEP care and provide new evidence of AGYW in PAC
settings, who remain understudied and at high risk of HIV.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10402008
- **Project number:** 1F31HD105494-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Yasaman Zia
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $46,020
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-17 → 2024-09-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10402008

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10402008, Optimizing Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use among Adolescent Girls and Young Women Seeking Reproductive Health Care in Kenya (1F31HD105494-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10402008. Licensed CC0.

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