Enhancing routine HIV and STI testing among young men who have sex with men: primary outcomes of the get connected clinical randomized trial (ATN 139).

BACKGROUND: Regular HIV and STI testing remain a cornerstone of comprehensive sexual health care. In this study, we examine the efficacy of Get Connected, a WebApp that combines test locators with personalized educational resources, in motivating young men who have sex with men (YMSM) to undergo regular HIV and STI testing. METHODS: Participants were randomly placed in one of two conditions. The first condition included the full version of GC (GC-PLUS), which included content tailored to users' psychosocial characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, relationship status, HIV/STI testing history). The second condition served as our attention-control and only included the testing locator (GC-TLO) for HIV/STI testing services. Participants were recruited from three cities (Houston, Philadelphia, and Atlanta) characterized by high HIV incidence. Assessments were collected at 1, 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month follow-ups. RESULTS: Both versions of GC were acceptable and efficacious in increasing routine HIV and STI testing over a 12-month period. 40% of the sample reported testing at least twice, with no main effects observed across the two intervention arms (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 0.69, 1.80), p =.66). Greater intervention effects were observed among YMSM who engaged more frequently with the intervention, with regional differences observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the need to cater to the diverse needs of YMSM through multilevel approaches. Broadly, mHealth HIV/STI testing interventions, such as Get Connected, would benefit from matching technologies to the local context to have the greatest impact. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03132415).

Connecting Youth and Young Adults to Optimize Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence (YouTHrive): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite intensive efforts to engage people living with HIV in the United States, less than half of the youth aged 13 to 24 years achieve viral suppression. There is a clear and continued need for innovative behavioral programs that support optimizing adherence among young persons with HIV. OBJECTIVE: There are 3 phases of this project. Phase 1 involves conducting focus groups to obtain feedback from youth about an existing technology-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence intervention. Phase 2 will be used to conduct beta testing with youth to refine and finalize the YouTHrive (YT) intervention. Phase 3 is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of the YT intervention among youth living with HIV (YLWH). METHODS: In phase 1, we will conduct 6 focus groups with approximately 8 youths (aged 15-19 years) and young adults (aged 20-24 years), each in 3 US cities to obtain (1) feedback from YLWH about the look and feel and content of an existing adult-focused Web-based ART adherence intervention and (2) suggestions for adapting the intervention for YLWH similar to themselves. Phase 2 will involve updating the existing intervention to include features and functionality recommended by YLWH in phase 1; it will conclude with beta testing with 12 participants to gain feedback on the overall design and ensure proper functionality and ease of navigation. For phase 3, we will enroll 300 YLWH in 6 US cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Tampa) into a 2-arm prospective RCT. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to YT intervention or control group. The randomization sequence will be stratified by city and use random permuted blocks of sizes 2 and 4. Participants randomized to the control condition will view a weekly email newsletter on topics related to HIV, with the exception of ART adherence, for 5 months. Participants randomized to the YT intervention condition will be given access to the YT site for 5 months. Study assessments will occur at enrollment and 5, 8, and 11 months post enrollment. The primary outcome that will be assessed is sustained viral load (VL), defined as the proportion of participants in each study arm who have suppressed VL at both the 5- and 11-month assessment; the secondary outcome that will be assessed is suppressed VL at both the 5- and 11-month assessment between drug-using and nondrug-using participants assigned to the YT intervention arm. RESULTS: Participant recruitment began in May 2017 for phase 1 of the study. The data collection for aim 3 is anticipated to end in April 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy trial of the YT intervention will help to fill gaps in understanding the efficacy of mobile interventions to improve ART adherence among at-risk populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03149757; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03149757 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/73pw57Cf1). INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/11502.

HIV and Sexuality Stigma Reduction Through Engagement in Online Forums: Results from the HealthMPowerment Intervention.

HIV and sexuality stigma impede HIV prevention and care efforts. HealthMpowerment.org (HMP) is an interactive mobile phone- and web-based HIV prevention and care intervention for young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM; ages 18-30) in the United States. HMP included three forums where participants could share their experiences. In this study, we explored whether engaging in stigma-related discussions was associated with changes in YBMSM's stigma-related scores throughout the trial. YBMSM (ages 18-30; N = 238) participating in HMP completed surveys at baseline, and 3 and 6 month follow-ups that included a series of scales focused on HIV and sexuality (internalized homophobia; sexual prejudice) stigma. Sixty-two participants contributed to the forums (1497 posts). We coded instances where YBMSM's conversations were stigma related (915 posts, 61.1%), including discussions of anticipated (74/915, 8.1%), experienced (125/915, 13.7%), internalized (410/915, 44.8%), and/or challenged (639/915, 69.8%) stigma regarding sexuality and HIV. Using a mixed methods approach, we examined whether changes in YBMSM's stigma scores were associated with stigma-related discussions within the forum. We controlled for age, HIV status, income, and educational attainment in these multivariable models. YBMSM who discussed experiencing HIV stigma in the forums reported decreases in perceived HIV stigma over time (b = - 0.37, p ≤ 0.05). YBMSM whose forum posts indicated anticipated HIV stigma reported increases in HIV stigma over time (b = 0.46, p ≤ 0.01). Participants who challenged sexuality-related stigma in forums had lower internalized homophobia (b = - 0.68, p ≤ 0.01) at baseline. YBMSM whose discussions focused on experiencing sexuality-related stigma reported increases in internalized homophobia (b = 0.39, p ≤ 0.01) and sexual prejudice (b = 0.87, p ≤ 0.05) over time. Developing strategies to combat stigma remains a key priority. HMP created an online space where YBMSM could discuss HIV and sexuality stigma. Although a limited number of HMP participants authored the majority of these forum discussions, the discussions were associated with changes in the sample's stigma scores over time. Online interventions (e.g., social media, apps) should consider the inclusion of forums to address stigma and test the efficacy of forums to improve YBMSM's HIV prevention and care continuum outcomes.