Testing of the Smartphone App to Enhance HIV Prevention Cascade Among Malaysian MSM

NCT ID: NCT05044013

Last Updated: 2025-07-28

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

90 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-11-15

Study Completion Date

2025-07-12

Brief Summary

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The investigators will conduct a pilot RCT to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the JomPrEP app and examine its preliminary efficacy in improving PrEP cascade compared with the control group.

Detailed Description

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mHealth is a promising and cost-effective strategy to reach stigmatized and hard-to-reach populations and link them to care. Leveraging mHealth reduces individuals' discomfort and distrust of disclosing risk behaviors to providers, providers' low cultural competency for working with individuals of diverse sexual identities, and bypasses barriers to care for marginalized populations, - all features crucial for HIV prevention in MSM in Malaysia. Results from the investigators' studies show Malaysian MSM often do not get HIV tested or initiate PrEP. Mixed methods suggest MSM want these services but prefer a streamlined system to access them that reduces interaction with clinicians where disclosure and perceived judgment occurs. mHealth may overcome these barriers by facilitating prevention services delivery and health decision-making in a confidential, less-stigmatizing, and convenient manner. Overall smartphone growth in Malaysia (63% in 2015 to 89% in 2017), and the investigators' parallel work with MSM indicates that nearly all (\>97%) MSM own a smartphone. Findings from qualitative interviews with MSM further indicate preferences for interfacing with 'apps' rather than health professionals as well as local stakeholders indicating strong interest in using such platform to deliver HIV prevention services align with developing culturally tailored mHealth strategies and to engage MSM in virtual communication with providers - all embedded within one app.

To the investigators' knowledge however, no mHealth intervention has been developed to improve access to HIV prevention services in Malaysia. The investigators, therefore, propose to pilot test their new clinic-affiliated app (JomPrEP) to promote HIV testing and PrEP uptake in Malaysian MSM. They will conduct a pilot RCT to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the JomPrEP app and examine its preliminary efficacy in improving PrEP cascade compared with the control group.

The investigators will enroll 90 participants who will be randomized (1:1) to receive either the JomPrEP app or the control group and assessed at 3- and 6-months. Randomization will be stratified by ATS use (16% to 24%) and age. They will conduct exit interviews with participants and clinical staff to examine the barriers and facilitators to the app and obtain feedback to further optimize the app.

Conditions

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HIV Prevention Program

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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JomPrEP App Group

Participants in the JomPrEP group will be provided with full app access and will be encouraged to use all features of the app.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Full access to JomPrEP app

Intervention Type OTHER

All participants will receive the JomPrEP app with access to all of its features which include: customizable page (using avatars and pseudonyms); visual dashboard (track and visualize progress); HIV testing plan (create plan for HIV testing, order self-testing kits, testing site locator); PrEP Care Plan (PrEPxpress, automated reminders for follow-up care, labs, delivery); chat function and discussion forum; tailored messages and reminders; assessment center (weekly assessment on adherence to PrEP, HIV risk, mood); knowledge center (resources on HIV testing and PrEP); Mental health support (screen for P/SUD, counseling feedback, referral to support services); Integration of provider locator (provides users with a GPS enabled map for PrEP and mental health support providers in Malaysia) and Gamification (offers extrinsic motivation by rewarding points/milestones for doing activities within the app). Participants can also contact the RA using the chat function for support.

Control Group

Participants in the control group will receive the JomPrEP app with major intervention features inactivated.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

inactivated JomPrEP app

Intervention Type OTHER

Only information and resources for PrEP services will be available along with access to risk assessment tools.

Interventions

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Full access to JomPrEP app

All participants will receive the JomPrEP app with access to all of its features which include: customizable page (using avatars and pseudonyms); visual dashboard (track and visualize progress); HIV testing plan (create plan for HIV testing, order self-testing kits, testing site locator); PrEP Care Plan (PrEPxpress, automated reminders for follow-up care, labs, delivery); chat function and discussion forum; tailored messages and reminders; assessment center (weekly assessment on adherence to PrEP, HIV risk, mood); knowledge center (resources on HIV testing and PrEP); Mental health support (screen for P/SUD, counseling feedback, referral to support services); Integration of provider locator (provides users with a GPS enabled map for PrEP and mental health support providers in Malaysia) and Gamification (offers extrinsic motivation by rewarding points/milestones for doing activities within the app). Participants can also contact the RA using the chat function for support.

Intervention Type OTHER

inactivated JomPrEP app

Only information and resources for PrEP services will be available along with access to risk assessment tools.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* HIV-negative MSM
* Age more than or equal to 18
* Cis-gender men
* Condomless sex in the last 30 days
* Own a smartphone

Exclusion Criteria

* Unable to provide informed consent
* Unable to read and understand English or Bahasa Malaysia
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University of Malaya

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Yale University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Connecticut

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Roman Shrestha

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Roman Shrestha, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Connecticut

Locations

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Centre of Excellence For Research in AIDS (CERiA)

Kuala Lumpur, , Malaysia

Site Status

Countries

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Malaysia

References

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Van Tieu H, Koblin BA. HIV, alcohol, and noninjection drug use. Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2009 Jul;4(4):314-8. doi: 10.1097/COH.0b013e32832aa902.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19532070 (View on PubMed)

Hsieh HF, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res. 2005 Nov;15(9):1277-88. doi: 10.1177/1049732305276687.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16204405 (View on PubMed)

Guadamuz TE, Cheung DH, Wei C, Koe S, Lim SH. Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN. PLoS One. 2015 May 14;10(5):e0126658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126658. eCollection 2015.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25973907 (View on PubMed)

Giordano TP, Guzman D, Clark R, Charlebois ED, Bangsberg DR. Measuring adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a diverse population using a visual analogue scale. HIV Clin Trials. 2004 Mar-Apr;5(2):74-9. doi: 10.1310/JFXH-G3X2-EYM6-D6UG.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15116282 (View on PubMed)

Grant RM, Anderson PL, McMahan V, Liu A, Amico KR, Mehrotra M, Hosek S, Mosquera C, Casapia M, Montoya O, Buchbinder S, Veloso VG, Mayer K, Chariyalertsak S, Bekker LG, Kallas EG, Schechter M, Guanira J, Bushman L, Burns DN, Rooney JF, Glidden DV; iPrEx study team. Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis, sexual practices, and HIV incidence in men and transgender women who have sex with men: a cohort study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2014 Sep;14(9):820-9. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70847-3. Epub 2014 Jul 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25065857 (View on PubMed)

Castillo-Mancilla JR, Zheng JH, Rower JE, Meditz A, Gardner EM, Predhomme J, Fernandez C, Langness J, Kiser JJ, Bushman LR, Anderson PL. Tenofovir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir diphosphate in dried blood spots for determining recent and cumulative drug exposure. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2013 Feb;29(2):384-90. doi: 10.1089/AID.2012.0089. Epub 2012 Oct 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22935078 (View on PubMed)

Castillo-Mancilla J, Seifert S, Campbell K, Coleman S, McAllister K, Zheng JH, Gardner EM, Liu A, Glidden DV, Grant R, Hosek S, Wilson CM, Bushman LR, MaWhinney S, Anderson PL. Emtricitabine-Triphosphate in Dried Blood Spots as a Marker of Recent Dosing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016 Oct 21;60(11):6692-6697. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01017-16. Print 2016 Nov.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27572401 (View on PubMed)

Zheng JH, Rower C, McAllister K, Castillo-Mancilla J, Klein B, Meditz A, Guida LA, Kiser JJ, Bushman LR, Anderson PL. Application of an intracellular assay for determination of tenofovir-diphosphate and emtricitabine-triphosphate from erythrocytes using dried blood spots. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2016 Apr 15;122:16-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2016.01.038. Epub 2016 Jan 21.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 26829517 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

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https://uxpajournal.org/determining-what-individual-sus-scores-mean-adding-an-adjective-rating-scale/

Determining What Individual SUS Scores Mean: Adding an Adjective Rating Scale by Aaron Bangor, PhD, CHFP, Philip Kortum, PhD, James Miller, PhD

https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/transforming-qualitative-information/book7714

Transforming Qualitative Information Thematic Analysis and Code Development. By Richard E. Boyatzis

Other Identifiers

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K01DA051346

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

View Link

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