Clinical trial NCT04379206: Social Network Approach for Increasing Testing Coverage Among Men Who Have Sex With Men
Official title: Social Network Approach for Increasing Testing Coverage Among Men Who Have Sex With Men
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: HIV Infections
Keywords: men who have sex with men
self-testing
social network
agent-based model
HIV
Gamification
Neumorphism
Lead sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-05-07
Enrollment: 463
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Adult men who have sex with men in Hong Kong

Brief summary: HIV testing is essential in shortening the time to identify a new infection, the first 90 of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. However, over one-third of the men who have sex with men (MSM) had never been tested for HIV; even if they did, one-fifth had their tests done more than a year ago. Assortative mixing pattern observed in the HIV-positive MSM group shaped the transmission dynamics and could be leveraged for intervention. Barriers to access HIV testing services could, on the other hand, be hurdled by self-tests. A network approach for intervention could therefore be promising in delivering effective HIV self-tests. To experiment with such an approach, a 2-phase study was conceptualised incorporating actual network-based referred HIV self-tests and an agent-based simulation evaluating its impact. Sixty-four MSM would be recruited as seeds for promoting HIV self-tests within their network and those being referred could refer their friends for the same after passing online training. To facilitate the process, an online platform would be developed offering information, collecting informed consent, requesting HIV self-test kits, returning results, performing online training, and referring peers. Participants could opt to receive self-tests by delivery or to conduct it on-site with staff assistance. A hotline with video conferencing support would be maintained to assist those who self-test at home. They could also choose between blood and oral fluid tests. Two user interfaces, namely gamification and neumorphism, would be randomly assigned. Primary outcomes to measure are number and proportion of MSM who had never or not tested within 12 months and the associating factors, and usability of the two user interfaces. Data collected in the empirical study would be used for parameterising the agent-based simulation to evaluate the impact of the approach in increasing testing coverage and shortening time to diagnosis. Its economic assessment would also be performed to cost each new infection to be identified. The approach could be feasible and effective to be adopted for future broader implementation for peer-led HIV self-test kit or HIV prevention message distribution.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* male
* had sex with another male in the preceding year
* able to communicate in written Chinese or English
* normally resided in Hong Kong

Exclusion Criteria:

* prisoners
* having mental illnesses that informed consent cannot be obtained

Primary outcomes:
measure: effectiveness of the approach in reaching MSM who have never or not recently tested for HIV
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
measure: Usability and acceptability of two user interfaces
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Determinants of key actors in the social network
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
measure: Preference of two forms of HIV self-testing
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
measure: Effect of network-based HIV self-test promotion in controlling transmission among MSM
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
measure: Proportion and characteristics of promoters
timeFrame: Through study completion, at year 2
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Sha Tin
country: Hong Kong
facility: Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases
Study officials:
References:
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citation: Kwan TH, Chan DPC, Lee SS. User Experience and Usability of Neumorphism and Gamification User Interface Designs in an HIV Self-Test Referral Program for Men Who Have Sex With Men: Prospective Open-Label Parallel-Group Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2022 Jun 22;10(2):e35869. doi: 10.2196/35869.