PP 7.2 – 00006 Acceptability of Home-Based Blood Collection Device for Viral Load Testing in HIV Cure Trials with Analytical Treatment Interruptions

Background: Prior research shows that the decision of people with HIV (PWH) to participate in HIV cure-related research trials is directly affected by HIV clinician input.However, in the context of HIV cure-related research, non-researcher community HIV clinician perspectives remain understudied.We aimed to learn how community HIV clinicians perceive HIV cure research and identify factors they weigh when encouraging or discouraging HIV cure trial participation by their patients.Methods: We recruited a purposive sample of 12 community HIV clinicians in metro-Seattle, WA to participate in in-depth interviews.We completed 11 interviews via teleconference and received one written response.We used conventional content analysis to analyze the data.Results: Our findings indicate that community HIV clinicians were generally supportive of patient participation in HIV curerelated clinical trials.Factors affecting support included knowledge of local trials, ease of referral, patient immune function and health stability, study risks and benefits, burden of study requirements, patient characteristics, patient life stability, potential impact on engagement in care, study communication plans, and beliefs that patients should have the autonomy to decide to participate.Participants had concerns about trials requiring treatment delays or interruptions, highlighting the contradictory messages that would be sent regarding the importance of medication adherence.HIV transmission risk during analytical treatment interruptions was also a concern voiced by community clinicians.While they were skeptical of HIV cure discovery in the near term and their knowledge of HIV cure-related research was limited, they were receptive to furthering their knowledge about open HIV cure trials to which they could refer patients.Community clinicians also suggested ways researchers could meaningfully engage them.Conclusions: It is important for the field of HIV cure research that those leading HIV cure trials increase engagement with nonresearcher community clinicians who care for PLWH early in the trial design process.Pre-trial inclusion will facilitate establishment of study and communication protocols with high acceptability, ultimately leading to better enrollment and retention within these essential studies.