NCT04426656

The Development of a Mobile-based App to Increase Uptake of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) by Men Who Have Sex With Men in China

IGHID 12001 - The Development of a Mobile-based App to Increase Uptake of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) by Men Who Have Sex With Men in China

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 70 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Academic / Other
• Sex: Male
• Age: 18 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to use a mini-application on the popular Chinese social media mobile platform, WeChat, to improve HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among at-risk men who have sex with men (MSM). UNC investigators will work in close partnership with a well-established HIV special hospital and the local MSM community to understand key barriers to PrEP use, and develop a mobile-based intervention to increase PrEP uptake among young MSM in Guangzhou, China.

Detailed description

This study includes two parts. Before the start of Part 1, a mini-app prototype for promoting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake will have been developed from a prior MSM community-driven hackathon contest. PrEP is an antiretroviral medicines-based prevention strategy against HIV infection, which has been proved save and effective. Part 1 includes in-depth interviews with 40 HIV-negative young MSM (18 and above) with a brief survey to collect demographic data. The interview topics include PrEP-related perceptions and feedback on the design of a mini-app prototype. Findings from Part 1 will inform refining the mini-app before the start of Part 2. In Part 2, a small two-arm randomized control trial with 70 young MSM (18 and above) will be conducted to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the mini-app in improving PrEP-related perceptions and actual PrEP uptake, compared to a control group of standard of care. Participants in Part 2 will be followed up for 12 weeks (8 week intervention and after-intervention follow-up at 12th week). A subgroup of participants (n=15) from both the intervention arm and the control arm will receive two rounds of in-depth interviews, separately at the 4th and 8th week, to share their experience of using the app and changed perceptions and/or behaviors related to PrEP.

Conditions

• HIV
• Pre-exposure Prophylaxis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Phone application	The mini-app (used in Part 2) has four main functions: 1. a knowledge center that contains a series of HIV-, sexual health-, and PrEP-related educational articles in Chinese; 2. an HIV self-test toolkit ordering system that allows users to order a finger-prick HIV rapid test toolkit and shipped to home for free (one piece at a time); 3. an asynchronous message function that allows users to chat with a study staff (C.Li); and 4. a user profile page where users can manage all HIV test orders.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-07-08
• Primary completion: 2021-04-02
• Completion: 2021-04-02
• First posted: 2020-06-11
• Last updated: 2022-03-02
• Results posted: 2022-03-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China