School of Nursing, University of Hong Kong, 4/F, William M.W. Mong Block 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2020 May 27;20(1):795. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08914-z.
Notably, both international and local studies have found a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and risky sexual behaviours, such as condomless anal sex, substance misuse in conjunction with sex ('chemsex') and group sex, among men who have sex with men (MSM) dating application (app) users. Although the use of dating apps is an emerging sexual risk factor, little effort has been expended on the promotion of safe sex and good sexual health among the users of those apps. Therefore, the aim of the proposed study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive web-based intervention in improving the sexual health of MSM dating app users in Hong Kong.
A two-armed randomised controlled trial will be conducted. Chinese MSM dating app users will be recruited and randomly allocated into either the intervention (n = 200) or control group (n = 200). Subjects in the intervention group will receive the web-based intervention containing interactive content that (1) encourages a positive attitude towards consistent condom use and HIV/STI testing and negative attitude towards chemsex and group sex; (2) positions condom use and regular HIV/STI testing as normative; and (3) targets improved perceived self-efficacy concerning condom use and negotiation and HIV/STI testing. The control group will receive only web-based information without sexual health components. Subjects in both groups will be evaluated at baseline and three and 6 months after baseline. The primary outcome will be the frequency of condomless anal sex in the past 3 months.
The proposed study will aid development of culturally relevant health promotion programmes aimed at minimising the potential harm of dating app use and promoting the sexual health of MSM dating app users. The web-based intervention, if found successful, will have important clinical and policy implications, as it can be adopted by the government and non-governmental organisations targeting MSM. Moreover, the proposed intervention can reach many MSM at relatively low cost, and thus has the potential to check the burgeoning HIV/STI epidemic among MSM in Hong Kong in a cost-effective manner.
International standard randomized controlled trial number (ISRCTN) registry: ISRCTN16681863 registered on 28 April 2020.
国际和本地研究都发现，男男性行为者（MSM）约会应用（app）用户中存在较高的性传播感染（STIs）和危险性行为，如无保护肛交、性伴同时使用药物（“嗑药性行为”）和群交。尽管使用约会应用是一个新兴的性风险因素，但在这些应用程序的用户中，很少有人努力促进安全性行为和良好的性健康。因此，本研究旨在开发和评估一种基于网络的互动干预措施，以提高香港 MSM 约会应用用户的性健康。
将进行一项双臂随机对照试验。招募中国 MSM 约会应用用户，并将其随机分配到干预组（n=200）或对照组（n=200）。干预组的受试者将接受包含互动内容的基于网络的干预，这些内容（1）鼓励对坚持使用安全套和 HIV/STI 检测持积极态度，对“嗑药性行为”和群交持消极态度；（2）将使用安全套和定期进行 HIV/STI 检测定位为规范行为；（3）针对提高对使用安全套和协商进行 HIV/STI 检测的自我效能感。对照组仅接受不含性健康内容的网络信息。两组受试者均在基线和基线后 3 个月和 6 个月进行评估。主要结局指标是过去 3 个月无保护肛交的频率。
该研究将有助于制定文化相关的健康促进计划，旨在最大限度地减少约会应用使用的潜在危害，并促进 MSM 约会应用用户的性健康。如果发现该网络干预措施有效，将具有重要的临床和政策意义，因为它可以被政府和非政府组织针对 MSM 采用。此外，该干预措施如果成功，以相对较低的成本即可覆盖许多 MSM，因此具有以具有成本效益的方式控制香港 MSM 中不断增长的 HIV/STI 流行的潜力。
国际标准随机对照试验编号（ISRCTN）注册：ISRCTN67151337 于 2020 年 4 月 28 日注册。
