A Pragmatic Clinical Trial of MyPEEPS Mobile to Improve HIV Prevention Behaviors in Diverse Adolescent MSM
Condition: HIV Infections
MeSH terms: HIV Infections
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The proposed MyPEEPS Mobile intervention is a novel and evidence-driven intervention using
      mobile technology to deliver HIV prevention information specifically developed for at-risk
      young men who have sex with men (YMSM). This will be the one of the first studies to test the
      efficacy of a scaled-up, mobile version of an existing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      prevention intervention originally developed for, designed by, and piloted for, a diverse
      group of YMSM.

      MyPEEPS Mobile will be tested in an randomized controlled trial with racially and ethnically
      diverse HIV-negative or unknown status YMSM aged 13-18 at four geographically diverse sites:
      Birmingham, Chicago, New York City, and Seattle, allowing for increased generalizability of
      findings.
    

Detailed description: 
      Men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a greater burden of HIV/AIDS than any other population
      group in the US, comprising only 2% of the population but 56% of individuals living with
      HIV/AIDS. Although much of the increased incidence in HIV has been reported among YMSM,
      especially among racial and ethnic minority groups, and is linked to high-risk sexual
      behavior, there remains a dearth of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions for YMSM -
      and none that address racially/ethnically diverse YMSM. To address this need, this study
      leverages mobile technology and MyPEEPS, an existing theory-driven, multi-ethnic,
      group-level, evidence-based intervention for diverse YMSM. MyPEEPS is a manualized
      curriculum, comprised of 6 modules focusing on key intermediate social and personal factors,
      including knowledge (e.g., correct way to use a condom), self-efficacy for safer sex,
      interpersonal communication skills and behavioral skills. MyPEEPS is one of the only HIV
      prevention interventions in the literature that focuses on diverse adolescent MSM. Long-term
      sustainability of face-to face, group-level behavioral interventions, such as MyPEEPS, have
      been problematic for dissemination in at-risk populations, particularly among young racial
      and ethnic minority groups. In response to this challenge, the investigators propose to
      translate MyPEEPS from a face-to-face, group-based curriculum to a mobile, responsive-driven
      web-based platform, accessible by smartphone or other web-enabled devices, to increase
      accessibility and scalability for diverse YMSM. The ubiquitous nature of mobile phones in
      daily life, especially among 13-18 year olds, has created opportunities for health
      interventions in a portable format with enhanced privacy. Using a participatory approach,
      this study will incorporate user-centered design in the translation of the MyPEEPS
      intervention onto a mobile platform.
    

Intervention name(s): MyPEEPS Mobile
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Mobile technology to deliver HIV prevention information specifically developed for at-risk YMSM.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: myPEEPS; Mobile Intervention; Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV); Men who have sex with men (MSM)