Text Messaging to Promote HIV Testing in Gay Men

NCT ID: NCT07165496

Last Updated: 2025-11-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 400 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-04-01
• Study Completion Date: 2015-12-31

Brief Summary

The rate of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high among Peruvian men who have sex with men (MSM), and new prevention programs should be developed to reach and provide sexual health services to more MSM. The Internet is a feasible medium both for recruiting participants and for implementing projects with MSM in Lima, Peru. Likewise, in Peru, mobile phones are promising tools for carrying out HIV-related interventions due to the high rate of mobile phone penetration. The Internet is a way to reach MSM who do not attend traditional health centers due to the stigma associated with being homosexual. Since mobile phones can be used to promote health, the investigators proposed to design, implement, and evaluate an intervention using text messages to promote HIV testing among Peruvian MSM recruited online. To achieve this objective, the investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a text message-based intervention to promote HIV testing among MSM in Lima recruited via the Internet.

Conditions

HIV Testing

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: DIAGNOSTIC
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Intervention arm

Participants received weekly text messages to promote health and HIV testing and were followed and supported by trained healthcare counselors through two-way communication. Participants were able to set up an appointment for HIV testing at no charge.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Text message-based intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants received weekly text messages to promote health and HIV testing and were followed and supported by trained healthcare counselors through two-way communication over a 12-week period. They were able to schedule a free HIV testing appointment at any time up to six months after enrollment.

Control arm

Participants were able to set up an appointment for HIV testing at no charge.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Text message-based intervention

Participants received weekly text messages to promote health and HIV testing and were followed and supported by trained healthcare counselors through two-way communication over a 12-week period. They were able to schedule a free HIV testing appointment at any time up to six months after enrollment.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Be male at birth
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be a resident of Lima, Peru
• Report having had sex (oral or anal) with another man in the past 12 months
• Provide informed consent
• Own a mobile phone

Exclusion Criteria

• Report being HIV-positive
• Have taken an HIV test within the past year

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

Sponsors

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Luis Menacho Alvirio

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia

Lima, Lima Province, Peru

Countries

Peru

Other Identifiers

S6 0541-01-10

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

62406

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id