ADHD-HIV-PrEP is a cross-sectional survey nested within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) and the SwissPrEPared cohort. The goal of this study is to estimate how common attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits are among people living with HIV and among people taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Switzerland.
People living with HIV experience disproportionately high rates of mental health challenges, yet adult ADHD is largely absent from the HIV literature. Traits associated with ADHD, together with social exclusion, adverse life events, stigma, and barriers to accessing healthcare, may increase vulnerability to HIV acquisition and complicate adherence to treatment and prevention. A comparable pathway may apply to people using PrEP. Prevalence data on ADHD in people living with HIV are limited to two small-scale studies, and no data exist for PrEP users.
Over a 12-month recruitment period, participants attending routine visits will complete a short, validated ADHD screening questionnaire (the ASRS-5). Screening data will be linked to routinely collected cohort data to describe sociodemographic, behavioural and clinical patterns associated with ADHD traits.
The study is co-created and co-led by people who, alongside their academic and clinical practice, have lived experience of the topics being explored.
The ADHD-HIV-PrEP study will be conducted at the following sites:
Checkpoint Zurich
University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV)
University Hospital Zurich (USZ)
This study is nested within two established Swiss research platforms, the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and SwissPrEPared, and is funded by a nested-project grant of the SHCS and a Gilead Fellowship.
See Recruitment for enrolment status, the study registry on OSF, and the survey protocol for full methodological details.
