Lau Stephanie Tsz Hei, Choi Kitty Wai Ying, Chen Julie, Mak William Pak-Hing, Yeung Ho Kong Christopher Au, Tucker Joseph, Wong William Chi-Wai
Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
VTC School of Business and Information Systems, VTC, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Trials. 2019 Feb 6;20(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3167-5.
Dating applications are a popular platform to meet new people. At the same time, they have been associated with risks such as unsafe sexual behavior and privacy concerns in young adults. This paper presents a study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led web-based intervention to promote its safe usage in young adults.
The study design is an open-labeled cluster RCT with an intervention and a placebo control arm. The intervention group will receive a web-based intervention developed through focus group discussions, a crowdsourcing contest, and a Peer-Vetted Creative Production (PVCP) workshop. The control group will receive a web-based resource on health and exercise. We aim to recruit approximately 338 young adults aged 17-27 years from three tertiary educational institutions in Hong Kong with the class as the cluster unit. Based on the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills (IMB) model, the primary outcome of this study is self-efficacy in using dating applications measured by the General Self Efficacy Scale. Secondary outcomes include change in risk perception measured by the Risk Propensity Scale and a Risk Assessment Tool. Questionnaires will be administered before the intervention, after the intervention, and at one-month follow-up. Intention-to-treat analysis and multilevel regression modeling will be used to evaluate differences in outcomes between groups and the factors affecting these outcomes, respectively.
Dating application usage presents opportunities as well as challenges to young adults meeting new friends. Innovative and relatable interventions are needed to promote the safe usage of dating applications to this population. Practical knowledge gained from the development process may be helpful for future intervention utilizing the peer-led approach. If effective, the intervention will be disseminated to non-governmental organizations and educational institutions to be used as a teaching resource.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03685643 . Registered on 26 September 2018. University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Registry, HKUCTR-2512.
约会应用程序是结识新朋友的流行平台。与此同时，它们与诸如不安全的性行为和年轻人的隐私问题等风险相关联。本文介绍了一项整群随机对照试验（RCT）的研究方案，以评估一项由同伴主导的基于网络的干预措施在促进年轻人安全使用约会应用程序方面的有效性。
该研究设计为一项开放标签的整群随机对照试验，设有干预组和安慰剂对照组。干预组将接受通过焦点小组讨论、众包竞赛和同伴审核创意制作（PVCP）工作坊开发的基于网络的干预措施。对照组将获得一份关于健康和锻炼的网络资源。我们的目标是从香港的三所高等教育机构招募约338名年龄在17 - 27岁的年轻人，以班级作为整群单位。基于信息、动机和行为技能（IMB）模型，本研究的主要结局是使用一般自我效能量表测量的使用约会应用程序的自我效能感。次要结局包括使用风险倾向量表和风险评估工具测量的风险认知变化。问卷将在干预前、干预后和1个月随访时进行发放。意向性分析和多水平回归建模将分别用于评估组间结局差异以及影响这些结局的因素。
约会应用程序的使用给年轻人结识新朋友带来了机遇和挑战。需要创新且相关的干预措施来促进该人群安全使用约会应用程序。从开发过程中获得的实践知识可能有助于未来采用同伴主导方法的干预措施。如果有效，该干预措施将传播给非政府组织和教育机构，用作教学资源。
ClinicalTrials.gov，NCT03685643。于2018年9月26日注册。香港大学临床试验注册中心，HKUCTR - 2512。
