Fischer Alex E, Phatsoane Mothepane, Majam Mohammed, Shankland Luke, Abrahams Musaed, Rhagnath Naleni, Lalla-Edward Samanta T
Ezintsha, Faculty of Health Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Aviro Health, Cape Town, South Africa.
South Afr J HIV Med. 2021 Feb 22;22(1):1197. doi: 10.4102/sajhivmed.v22i1.1197. eCollection 2021.
Human immunodeficiency virus self-testing (HIVST) can reduce facility-based HIV testing barriers; however, no proven applications exist with widespread uptake for self-reporting or linkage to care. Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) have shown high usability and feasibility scores, so Ithaka was developed for South Africans to self-report HIVST results outside clinical settings.
This study investigated the use of Ithaka as a support tool for HIVST users, specifically the ability to self-report results.
This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2018 to June 2019. At existing HIVST distribution sites, individuals were given HIVST kits and then invited to use Ithaka. Participants could test at home and report their results through the app anytime. Ithaka tracked when people logged-on, registered, received counselling and reported results. Post-study surveys on user experience were also conducted.
Of 751 participants, 531 (70.7%) logged onto the app, 412 (54.9%) registered, 295 (39.3%) received counselling and 168 (22.4%) self-reported results. Participants strongly agreed that Ithaka was useful and that it was easy to upload results. Forty-one participants completed a post-test survey, and 39/41 (95.1%) completed the app journey. Most participants (36/41;87.8%) had no challenges, although 2/41 (4.9%) cited perceived data costs, 2/41 (4.9%) difficulty uploading results and 1/41 (2.4%) language, as challenges.
Despite the small sample size, this study has shown that HIVST participants under pragmatic conditions were willing and able to self-report results via the app, whilst also identifying areas of improvement for scaling up.
人类免疫缺陷病毒自我检测（HIVST）可减少基于医疗机构的HIV检测障碍；然而，目前尚无经证实的、能被广泛采用的自我报告或与护理联系的应用程序。移动健康（mHealth）应用程序（应用）已显示出较高的可用性和可行性评分，因此开发了伊萨卡应用程序，供南非人在临床环境之外自我报告HIVST结果。
本研究调查了伊萨卡应用程序作为HIVST使用者支持工具的使用情况，特别是自我报告结果的能力。
本横断面研究于2018年11月至2019年6月进行。在现有的HIVST分发地点，向个人发放HIVST检测试剂盒，然后邀请他们使用伊萨卡应用程序。参与者可以在家中进行检测，并随时通过应用程序报告结果。伊萨卡应用程序记录人们登录、注册、接受咨询和报告结果的时间。还进行了关于用户体验的研究后调查。
751名参与者中，531人（70.7%）登录了应用程序，412人（54.9%）注册，295人（39.3%）接受了咨询，168人（22.4%）自我报告了结果。参与者强烈同意伊萨卡应用程序很有用，且上传结果很容易。41名参与者完成了研究后调查，39/41（95.1%）完成了应用程序流程。大多数参与者（36/41；87.8%）没有遇到问题，不过2/41（4.9%）提到了感知到的数据成本，2/41（4.9%）提到上传结果困难，1/41（2.4%）提到语言是问题。
尽管样本量较小，但本研究表明，在实际条件下，HIVST参与者愿意并能够通过应用程序自我报告结果，同时也确定了扩大规模时需要改进的方面。
