NST-Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012 Oct 30;12:120. doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-12-120.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterial infection, a common cause of infertility, are highly prevalent in developed countries, and a worrying problem in North Norway, where the incidence of chlamydia twice the Norwegian average. Seventy percent of reported chlamydia cases are found in people below 25 years of age, and although its spread could be controlled with proper prevention, young people are more aware of the risks of unwanted pregnancy than their risk of acquiring a STD. Information and Communication Technologies, including, the Internet, social media and/or smartphones, should be valued for sexual health promotion for their potential to engage young audiences. And in these media, avatars guarantee anonymity to users when handling sensitive information. The main objective of this project is to achieve that North Norwegian youngsters become more aware of STDs through the use of popular technologies among young people.
A Virtual Clinic for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (VCSTD) will be developed. The VCSTD will provide early guidance and reliable information sources concerning reproductive health, delivered in a novel and innovative way to the younger population. The VCSTD consists of an "avatar" supported intervention in a serious gaming and e-learning environment, which will bypass direct physical access (in person) to reliable medical information, as well as allowing the youngsters to share that information in social media, and thus helping the VCSTD to be disseminated to more people.Data analyses will be conducted on publically available health data relevant to STDs in Troms and Finnmark, like the absolute number of chlamydia tests, the amount of emergency contraception medication sold, and the number of abortions. Also, usage data of the system and experiences of usefulness will be explored through participants' voluntary responses to a feedback form available in the VCSTD.
This study will examine the usefulness of an online public health intervention that aims to promote healthy sexual practices among North-Norwegian youngsters. If shown to be effective, the intervention could prove to be an affordable and widely accessible intervention to decrease risky sexual practices in younger population.
性传播疾病（性病），特别是沙眼衣原体细菌感染，是导致不孕的常见原因，在发达国家发病率很高，在挪威北部也是一个令人担忧的问题，那里的衣原体发病率是挪威平均水平的两倍。70%的报告病例出现在 25 岁以下的人群中，尽管通过适当的预防可以控制其传播，但年轻人对意外怀孕的风险认识比对获得性病的风险认识更高。信息和通信技术，包括互联网、社交媒体和/或智能手机，应该因其在促进性健康方面的潜力而受到重视，因为它们有可能吸引年轻受众。在这些媒体中，头像可以为用户处理敏感信息时提供匿名性。本项目的主要目标是通过在年轻人中使用流行技术，使挪威北部的年轻人更加了解性病。
将开发一个虚拟性病诊所（VCSTD）。VCSTD 将以新颖和创新的方式提供有关生殖健康的早期指导和可靠信息来源，以满足年轻人群的需求。VCSTD 由一个支持头像的干预措施组成，该干预措施在严肃游戏和电子学习环境中进行，绕过了直接获得可靠医疗信息的途径，同时允许年轻人在社交媒体上分享这些信息，从而帮助 VCSTD 传播给更多的人。将对特罗姆瑟和芬马克与性病相关的公共卫生数据（如衣原体检测的绝对数量、紧急避孕药的销售数量和堕胎数量）进行数据分析。还将通过参与者在 VCSTD 中提供的反馈表自愿回复，探索系统的使用数据和有用性体验。
本研究将检验一种旨在促进挪威北部年轻人健康性行为的在线公共卫生干预措施的有效性。如果被证明有效，该干预措施可能成为一种负担得起且广泛可及的干预措施，以减少年轻人群中的危险性行为。
