HIV
Conditions
Brief summary
This study \[HOPE: Harnessing Online Peer Education\] seeks to determine the efficacy of using online social networks to scale peer community leader models to increase HIV prevention within African-American and Latino men who have sex with men. The peer community leader model, which teaches community popular opinion leaders about how to disseminate behavior changes messages throughout the community, has been proven to increase HIV prevention behaviors. Social media and online communities, such as Facebook, may be a cost-effective platform for scaling these models. Primarily upper middle-class White populations used the Internet in its early years, however, Internet use within African-American and Latino households has recently increased dramatically, especially on social media. People using the Internet may be at the highest risk for contracting HIV and are using novel Internet approaches to find sex partners, such as through social media. This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of the HOPE social media intervention to increase HIV testing among at-risk groups in the United States.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALsocial media intervention
social media intervention
Sponsors
University of California, Los Angeles
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
University of California, Irvine
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to 89 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 18 years of age or older * Male * Sexually active with another man in the last 12 months * Willing and capable of understanding and assenting to an online informed consent form * Has (or willing to create) a social media page.
Exclusion criteria
* Does not satisfy inclusion criteria
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Participants Requesting HIV Self-Testing | 5 years | At home/self HIV testing kits can be requested to be ordered and will be provided to all participants who request it. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Intervention experimental
social media intervention: social media intervention with peer leaders | 450 |
| Control Other
social media intervention: social media intervention | 450 |
| Total | 900 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Intervention | Control | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 32 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.8 | 31 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.8 | 32 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.8 |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity American Indian or Alaska Native | 8 Participants | 7 Participants | 15 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Asian or Pacific Islander | 18 Participants | 16 Participants | 34 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Black/African American | 72 Participants | 73 Participants | 145 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Latino/Caribbean | 301 Participants | 319 Participants | 620 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Other | 12 Participants | 7 Participants | 19 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity White/European Descent | 39 Participants | 28 Participants | 67 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 450 participants | 450 participants | 900 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 450 Participants | 450 Participants | 900 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 450 | 0 / 450 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 450 | 0 / 450 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 450 | 0 / 450 |
Outcome results
Primary
Number of Participants Requesting HIV Self-Testing
At home/self HIV testing kits can be requested to be ordered and will be provided to all participants who request it.
Time frame: 5 years
| Arm | Measure | Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS) |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Number of Participants Requesting HIV Self-Testing | 130 Participants |
| Control | Number of Participants Requesting HIV Self-Testing | 102 Participants |