Facilitating HIV Testing Among Young Adult MSM Through Social Networking

通过社交网络促进年轻男男性接触者的艾滋病毒检测

• 批准号: 8603128
• 负责人: Roland C Merchant
• 金额: $ 29.85万
• 依托单位: RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-04-15 至 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8603128
• 关键词: Blood specimen; Collection; Communities; Confidentiality; Data; Development; Effectiveness; Enrollment; Epidemic; Ethnic group; Familiarity; HIV; HIV Infections; HIV risk; Hispanics; Home environment; Human immunodeficiency virus test; Incidence; Internet; Laboratories; Learning; Liquid substance; Mails; Medical; Methods; Oral; Outcome; Outcome Measure; Participant; Patient Self-Report; Population; Populations at Risk; Privacy; Public Health; Randomized; Randomized Controlled Trials; Risk; Risk Behaviors; Sample Size; Sampling; Social Network; Staging; Surveys; System; Technology; Telephone; Test Result; Testing; Time; United States; United States Food and Drug Administration; base; cost; experience; follow-up; high risk; improved; innovation; men; men who have sex with men; novel; novel strategies; outreach; preference; public health relevance; racial and ethnic; social; social networking website; uptake; web site; willingness; young adult

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Young adult (18-24-year-old) Black, Hispanic, and white men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) have among the highest incidences of HIV infection in the United States (US), yet have low HIV testing rates. New approaches to encourage and facilitate HIV testing are needed to reduce the impact of the HIV epidemic among this at-risk population. In this innovative, early-stage, developmental R21 study, we will evaluate a new approach to increase HIV testing among young adult Black, Hispanic, and white MSM. This new approach will evaluate acceptance and utilization of a new rapid HIV self-test that was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and as well as usage of a MSM social-networking website to facilitate HIV testing and dissemination. The entire study will be internet-based, in regards to recruitment, enrollment, follow-up, and acquisition of HIV tests, which is appropriate given the high level of familiarity, use, and comfort with the internet among young adult Black, Hispanic, and white MSM. In Stage I, we will survey a large sample of young adult Black, Hispanic, and white MSM social-networking website users and assess their acceptance, facilitators/barriers to use, utilization, preferences, and opinions regarding a new rapid HIV self test, as compared to conventional "home-based" HIV testing or medical or community-based HIV testing. In Stage II, we will go beyond the perspectives evaluated in Stage I and directly evaluate through a randomized, controlled trial if testing uptake is greater and time to initiation of testing is shorter for participants randomly assigned to use the rapid HIV self-test, as compared to those assigned to undergo conventional "home-based" HIV testing or medical or community-based HIV testing. In Stage III, we will assess if the experience with using the rapid HIV self-test, as compared to the other testing approaches, encourages these young adult Black, Hispanic, and white MSM to invite their "online" or "offline" contacts to use this new type of test. We will also determine if there are differences across the racial/ethnic groups in regards to these outcomes, which might impact the effectiveness of testing approaches. This R21 project is highly significant and innovative because it investigates if HIV testing can be facilitaed on a national scale among a higher risk population with historically low HIV testing rates (young adult Black, Hispanic, and white MSM) through social media recruitment and a new method of HIV testing. The potential public health impact of this study would be in the creation of a new approach to improving HIV testing through an internet-based, social-network-facilitated recruitment and dissemination of new HIV testing technologies. The results of this R21 and lessons learned will be used to initiate a larger and more sophisticated RO1 study of other internet-based social networks to facilitate HIV testing among MSM and other populations.

描述（由申请人提供）：年轻成人（18-24岁）黑人、西班牙裔和白人男男性行为者（MSM）是美国艾滋病毒感染率最高的人群之一，但艾滋病毒检测率很低。需要采取新的办法，鼓励和便利进行艾滋病毒检测，以减少艾滋病毒流行病对这一高危人群的影响。在这项创新的、早期的、发展性的R21研究中，我们将评估一种新的方法来增加年轻成年黑人、西班牙裔和白人男男性接触者的艾滋病毒检测。这种新方法将评估美国食品和药物管理局最近批准的一种新的艾滋病病毒快速自我检测的接受程度和使用情况，以及男男性行为者社交网站促进艾滋病病毒检测和传播的使用情况。整个研究将以互联网为基础，涉及招募、登记、随访和获得艾滋病毒检测，这是合适的，因为年轻成年黑人、西班牙裔和白人男男性接触者对互联网的熟悉程度、使用程度和舒适度都很高。在第一阶段，我们将调查大量年轻成年黑人、西班牙裔和白人MSM社交网站用户，并评估他们的接受程度、使用的促进因素/障碍、使用率、偏好和对新的快速艾滋病自我的看法