Challenges and Opportunities with at-Home Blood Collection for HIV-1 Viral Load Monitoring among Sexual Minoritized Men who use Stimulants

Sexually minoritized men (SMM) with HIV who use stimulants experience difficulties achieving and maintaining an undetectable viral load (VL). Home-based VL monitoring could augment HIV care by supporting interim, early identification of detectable VL. We describe implementation challenges associated with a home-collection device for laboratory-based VL testing among SMM with HIV who use stimulants. From March-May 2022, cisgender SMM with HIV reporting moderate-to-severe stimulant use disorder and suboptimal (< 90%) past-month antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence were recruited via a consent-to-contact participant registry. Eligible men completed teleconference-based informed consent and were mailed a HemaSpot-HD blood collection device (volume capacity 160 µL; lower limit of detection 839 copies/mL) with detailed instructions for home blood self-collection and return shipment. Implementation process measures included estimated blood volume and VL quantification. Among 24 participants, 21 (88%) returned specimens with a median duration of 23 days (range: 10–71 days) between sending devices to participants and receiving specimens. Of these, 13/21 (62%) included enough blood (≥ 40 µL) for confidence in detectable/undetectable results; 10/13 (77%) had detectable VL, with 4/10 (40%) were quantifiable at ≥ 839 copies/mL. The remaining 8/21 had low blood volume (< 40 µL), but 3/8 (38%) still had detectable VL, with 1/3 (33%) quantifiable at ≥ 839 copies/mL. Home blood collection of ≥ 40 µL using HemaSpot-HD was feasible among this high-priority population, with > 50% having a VL detected. However, interim VL monitoring using HemaSpot-HD among those experiencing difficulties with ART adherence may be strengthened by building rapport via teleconferencing and providing detailed instructions to achieve adequate sample volume.