Crowdsourcing A Public Health Campaign

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this stepped wedge randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a crowdsourced intervention on promoting HIV testing among young Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM). The crowdsourced intervention will include an open contest, judging to determine finalists and prizes, a designathon, and contest-based MSM engagement. The hypothesis is that a crowdsourced intervention will be superior to conventional HIV test uptake campaigns in eliciting HIV test uptake.

Detailed Description
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This study will use an adaptation of the stepped wedge randomized controlled trial design. A total of eight major metropolitan cities will implement the crowdsourced intervention. These cities will be chosen based on the following criteria: 1) previous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) MSM sentinel surveillance site; 2) capacity for campaign implementation; 3) capacity for intervention implementation at the community level. Four cities will implement more intensive in-person events to promote engagement (Guangzhou, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Qingdao, and Jinan in Shandong Province) during survey intervention stage. The Randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be evaluated using two different sources of data: 1) online survey data from MSM in the eight cities prior to and after the intervention; 2) CDC routine surveillance data in the eight cities prior to and after the intervention.

Official Title
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Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID) 11604 - Crowdsourcing to Promote HIV Testing: A Stepped Wedge Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Promoting HIV Testing in China

Conditions
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HIV

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Crowdsourced intervention
* Behavioral: Traditional intervention campaign


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Currently living and planning to live in one of the eight cities used in the study in the next 12 months. Not living with HIV No HIV test in the past three months Born biologically male and identify as either male or transgender female Had anal or oral sex with men at least once during their lifetime 16 years or older Willing to provide cell phone number Complete the informed consent document Exclusion Criteria: Women are excluded from this study

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 16 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Immediate Intervention<br>Men will be exposed immediately to a comprehensive intervention promoting HIV testing. | Behavioral: Crowdsourced intervention<br>* The crowdsourced intervention is composed of three phases that cumulatively draw on crowd wisdom to engage the community: (1) a crowdsourcing contest to solicit optimal images/concepts/taglines; (2) a designathon to formulate optimal HIV testing campaigns; (3) a process of localization unique to each of the eight cities.<br>|
| Experimental: Delayed Intervention<br>Men will be exposed to a comprehensive intervention promoting HIV testing after a delay period. | Behavioral: Crowdsourced intervention<br>* The crowdsourced intervention is composed of three phases that cumulatively draw on crowd wisdom to engage the community: (1) a crowdsourcing contest to solicit optimal images/concepts/taglines; (2) a designathon to formulate optimal HIV testing campaigns; (3) a process of localization unique to each of the eight cities.<br>Behavioral: Traditional intervention campaign<br>* The pre-intervention period will include conventional HIV testing campaigns organized by local CDC, Community-Based Organization (CBO), and partners. These are typically designed by experts and social marketing companies.<br>* Other names: Conventional HIV testing campaign;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Reporting HIV Testing in the Past Three Months | This will be assessed by self-report during a follow-up survey | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of Men Reporting Condomless Sex at 3 Months Post-intervention |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| HIV Testing Social Norms | HIV testing social norms will be measured using six survey items that are each on a five-point Likert scale. Increased HIV testing social norms will be defined as having an increase from baseline in any two of these six survey items and dichotomized accordingly. Number of men who report higher score of social norms when comparing their pre-intervention and post-intervention values | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Change in HIV Testing Self-efficacy | Number of men who report higher levels of self-efficacy when comparing their pre-intervention and post-intervention HIV testing norms | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Community Engagement/ MSM Community Affiliation | Number of men, defined as an increase in closer affiliation with the MSM community (i.e., tongzhi circle, gay online networks or groups) when comparing their pre-intervention and post-intervention periods. | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Engaged in HIV Testing Community Campaign in the Past 3 Months |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Being Self-tested for HIV in the Last 3 Months Post-intervention |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Mean Score of Anticipated HIV Stigma | Measured by a 7-item version of the anticipated HIV stigma scale, designed to measure the extent to which participants anticipated negative intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences were they to contract HIV in the future. All seven items were rated on a Likert-type scale (1=Strongly Disagree; 4=Strongly Agree). The mean score is reported, ranged from 1 to 4. Higher values indicate greater anticipated stigma. | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Being Tested for Syphilis in the Last 3 Months Post-intervention |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Using Weibo in the Past Three Months Post-intervention to Give or Receive Information About HIV Testing |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Using Wechat in the Past Three Months Post-intervention to Give or Receive Information About HIV Testing |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Using Tencent QQ (QQ) in the Past Three Months Post-intervention to Give or Receive Information About HIV Testing |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Using Mobile Apps in the Past Three Months Post-intervention to Give or Receive Information About HIV Testing | Frequency of men, defined as the number of men who reported using mobile apps in the past three months to give or receive information about HIV testing comparing their pre-intervention and post-intervention engagement | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 
| Number of Men Reporting Received HIV Self-testing Kits in the Last 3 Months Post-intervention |  | From implementation roll-out to three months after implementation of crowdsourced intervention | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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MSM, HIV, test uptake, crowdsourcing