Miyashita Ochoa Ayako, Paneda Christian Corpuz, Wu Elizabeth Sc, Maxwell Katherine Elizabeth, Garth Gerald, Smith Terry, Holloway Ian Walter
Department of Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Arming Minorities Against Addiction and Disease (AMAAD) Institute, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Jan 6;10(1):e19770. doi: 10.2196/19770.
Black sexual minority men (BSMM) are disproportionately affected by HIV. Los Angeles County (LAC) carries a substantial burden of the HIV epidemic in California. Negative effects of both psychosocial and structural barriers highlight the timely need to increase HIV treatment among BSMM. Successful HIV interventions based on social media and mobile phone technology have been demonstrated. This protocol describes LINX LA, a study that tests LINX, a web-based mobile app that provides tailored social services, legal resources, and peer support for BSMM living with HIV (BSMM+) in LAC using a randomized comparison trial.
During phase 1, the LINX LA study aims to engage in an iterative design process to develop the LINX App using qualitative data to inform and tailor the mobile app technology and its functionality. In phase 2 of LINX LA, we will test the efficacy of the LINX App compared with the LINX App Plus to improve HIV treatment outcomes (ie, antiretroviral therapy adherence, viral suppression) among BSMM+ in LAC by addressing social work and legal needs and developing a forum for peer support.
In this study funded by the California HIV/AIDS Research Program, we will recruit and enroll BSMM+ participants (aged ≥18 years) in LAC (N=400) to participate in a 12-month study that includes access to the LINX App, which provides a forum for peer support and tailored content aimed at improving the use of social and legal resources. All participants will also receive survey-based interviews at 3 time points (at baseline and 6- and 12-month intervals) and weekly text message surveys that assess medication and treatment adherence. Treatment adherence and viral suppression will be extracted from medical record data. Half of the participants will also be randomly assigned to receive 3 individualized coaching sessions (at 1-, 3-, and 6-month intervals) and the ability to directly message their coach via the LINX App. Over the course of the study, LINX App participants will receive a minimum of US $130 in cash and LINX App Plus participants will receive a minimum of US $190. We hypothesize that participants enrolled in LINX App Plus will demonstrate greater improvement in HIV outcomes compared with LINX App participants.
The LINX study will test the efficacy of a web-based mobile app intervention for BSMM+ in LAC (N=400). The LINX App seeks to increase participants' knowledge of HIV; to facilitate access to necessary social and legal services, including information and referrals; and to increase social support across participants by providing a mediated forum for engagement.
The implementation of LINX LA aims to develop and test a culturally tailored approach to improve the HIV treatment outcomes of BSMM+.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/19770.
黑人性少数男性（BSMM）受艾滋病毒影响的比例过高。洛杉矶县（LAC）在加利福尼亚州承担着艾滋病毒流行的沉重负担。心理社会和结构障碍的负面影响凸显了及时增加对BSMM艾滋病毒治疗的必要性。基于社交媒体和移动电话技术的成功艾滋病毒干预措施已得到证实。本方案描述了LINX LA研究，该研究使用随机对照试验测试LINX，这是一款基于网络的移动应用程序，为洛杉矶县感染艾滋病毒的BSMM（BSMM+）提供量身定制的社会服务、法律资源和同伴支持。
在第1阶段，LINX LA研究旨在参与迭代设计过程，利用定性数据开发LINX应用程序，为移动应用技术及其功能提供信息并进行定制。在LINX LA的第2阶段，我们将测试LINX应用程序与LINX应用程序增强版相比的疗效，通过满足社会工作和法律需求并建立同伴支持论坛，改善洛杉矶县BSMM+的艾滋病毒治疗结果（即抗逆转录病毒疗法依从性、病毒抑制）。
在这项由加利福尼亚艾滋病毒/艾滋病研究项目资助的研究中，我们将在洛杉矶县招募并登记BSMM+参与者（年龄≥18岁）（N = 400），参与为期12个月的研究，包括使用LINX应用程序，该应用程序提供同伴支持论坛和旨在改善社会和法律资源使用的定制内容。所有参与者还将在3个时间点（基线以及6个月和12个月间隔）接受基于调查的访谈，并每周接受评估药物和治疗依从性的短信调查。治疗依从性和病毒抑制情况将从医疗记录数据中提取。一半的参与者还将被随机分配接受3次个性化辅导课程（间隔1个月、3个月和6个月），并能够通过LINX应用程序直接向他们的辅导老师发送信息。在研究过程中，LINX应用程序参与者将至少获得130美元现金，LINX应用程序增强版参与者将至少获得190美元。我们假设，与LINX应用程序参与者相比，参与LINX应用程序增强版的参与者在艾滋病毒治疗结果方面将有更大改善。
LINX研究将测试针对洛杉矶县BSMM+（N = 400）的基于网络的移动应用程序干预措施的疗效。LINX应用程序旨在增加参与者对艾滋病毒的了解；促进获得必要的社会和法律服务，包括信息和转介；并通过提供一个调解参与的论坛来增加参与者之间的社会支持。
LINX LA的实施旨在开发并测试一种文化定制方法，以改善BSMM+的艾滋病毒治疗结果。
国际注册报告标识符（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/19770。
