Social Network Approach for Increasing Testing Coverage Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

NCT ID: NCT04379206

Last Updated: 2022-01-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 463 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-03-01
• Study Completion Date: 2021-05-12

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.

Conditions

HIV Infections

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

Men who have sex with men

MSM receiving a self-test kit with optional assistance

HIV self-test kit

Intervention Type: DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

fingerprick and oral fluid HIV self-tests with optional on-site or hotline staff assistance

Graphical User Interface

Intervention Type: OTHER

Gamification or neumorphism user interface

Interventions

HIV self-test kit

fingerprick and oral fluid HIV self-tests with optional on-site or hotline staff assistance

Intervention Type: DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Graphical User Interface

Gamification or neumorphism user interface

Intervention Type: OTHER

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Chinese University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Tsz Ho Kwan

Postdoctoral Fellow

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases

Shatin, , Hong Kong

Countries

Hong Kong

References

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29127535 (View on PubMed)

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 22767921 (View on PubMed)

Kwan TH, Lee SS. Bridging Awareness and Acceptance of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and the Need for Targeting Chemsex and HIV Testing: Cross-Sectional Survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Jul 3;5(3):e13083. doi: 10.2196/13083.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 31271148 (View on PubMed)

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Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 30680538 (View on PubMed)

Song Y, Li X, Zhang L, Fang X, Lin X, Liu Y, Stanton B. HIV-testing behavior among young migrant men who have sex with men (MSM) in Beijing, China. AIDS Care. 2011 Feb;23(2):179-86. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2010.487088.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 21259130 (View on PubMed)

Philbin MM, Hirsch JS, Wilson PA, Ly AT, Giang LM, Parker RG. Structural barriers to HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vietnam: Diversity, stigma, and healthcare access. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 3;13(4):e0195000. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195000. eCollection 2018.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29614104 (View on PubMed)

Kwan TH, Chan DPC, Wong SY, Lee SS. Implementation Cascade of a Social Network-Based HIV Self-testing Approach for Men Who Have Sex With Men: Cross-sectional Study. J Med Internet Res. 2023 Apr 26;25:e46514. doi: 10.2196/46514.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 37099364 (View on PubMed)

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.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 35731564 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

MSS324R

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

MSS324R

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id