Home HIV self-testing has been FDA approved and allows users to read their own HIV test results at home, while home sexually transmitted infection (STI) test self-collection allows men to use a swab at home and mail it in for testing. The purpose of this study is to learn how Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) use these new testing options, a set of online support tools, and the option to test with someone to support them (a testing "buddy"). We will also evaluate whether the online tools help these men to connect with HIV prevention services such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) if they test HIV negative, and to HIV care services if they test HIV positive.
Participants will be randomized 2:1 after enrollment to the intervention and control condition. Data obtained from this study will be used to inform the further tailoring and distribution of an intervention for young Black and Latino MSM to increase utilization of home HIV self-testing and linkage to HIV treatment and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
104
Access to home HIV test kits, home STI self-collection kits, the HOME Study website, and the SexPro HIV risk assessment tool.
Counseling about the importance of quarterly HIV/STI testing and a PrEP information pamphlet.
Bridge HIV, San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco, California, United States
Efficacy of the HOME package to support linkage to PrEP or HIV care
Between-arm differences in initiation of PrEP; qualitative evaluation of linkage to HIV care.
Time frame: 9 months
Efficacy of the HOME package to increase HIV and STI testing frequency.
The proportion of participants reporting HIV and STI testing rates between visits.
Time frame: 9 months
Feasibility of the individual components of the study intervention.
Combined analysis of overall use of study intervention: Usage of home HIV self-testing, with and without buddies, as well as STI-self collection; Proportion of participants who log-in to the HOME Study site at least once, distribution of numbers of log-ins, and use of HOME Study pages, as measured by numbers of clicks and views for each page.
Time frame: 9 months
Acceptability of the HOME package to support linkage to HIV care or PrEP.
Acceptability scores from online questionnaires and the distribution of repeated scores at follow-up timepoints.
Time frame: 9 months
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