Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 9;5(3):e26.
doi: 10.2196/mhealth.7199.

Usability and Acceptability of a Mobile Comprehensive HIV Prevention App for Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Pilot Study

Patrick S Sullivan  1 , Robert Driggers  1 , Joanne D Stekler  2 , Aaron Siegler  1 , Tamar Goldenberg  3 , Sarah J McDougal  4 , Jason Caucutt  2 , Jeb Jones  1 , Rob Stephenson  3
Affiliations

Usability and Acceptability of a Mobile Comprehensive HIV Prevention App for Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Pilot Study

Patrick S Sullivan et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. .

Abstract

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the group most impacted by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic and the only subgroup in the United States among which new HIV diagnoses are not decreasing. To achieve the US National HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) Strategy goals of reducing new diagnoses by 25%, high (eg, 30-50%) coverage of multiple HIV prevention interventions is needed in both urban and rural areas. Mobile phone "apps" are an important channel through which prevention services could be provided at scale and at low marginal cost.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usability and acceptability of a theory-based Android mobile phone app for HIV prevention.

Methods: The app included self-assessment tools; prevention recommendations; commodity (condoms, HIV self-tests) ordering; reminders to MSM for basic HIV prevention services, HIV testing, condom use, screening for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and nonoccupational postexposure prophylaxis (nPEP); and prevention and treatment provider locators. The study recruited HIV-negative, Android-using MSM in Atlanta and Seattle who were asked to use the app for 4 months and complete a post-use survey. We measured the use of the app and its features, ordering of commodities, self-report of establishing an HIV testing plan, being HIV tested in the community, and starting PrEP or using nPEP. Usability was assessed using the system usability scale (SUS).

Results: A total of 121 MSM were enrolled (59.5%, 72/121 from Atlanta; 40.5%, 49/121 from Seattle). Median age was 28. Nearly half (48.8%, 59/121) were nonwhite, and most (85.9%, 104/121) were gay-identified. Most had tested for HIV in the past (85.1%, 103/121), and 52 (43.0%, 52/121) had a plan to test for HIV regularly. Men used the app for an average of 17.7 minutes over the first 4 months. Over the 4-month period, over half ordered condoms (63.6%, 77/121) and HIV test kits (52.8%, 64/121) on the app. Eight of 86 (9%) PrEP-eligible MSM started PrEP during the 4-month period; of those, 6 of the 8 reported that the app influenced their decision to start PrEP. The mean SUS was 73 (above average).

Conclusions: A theory-based mobile phone app was acceptable to MSM and was rated as having above-average usability. Most men used the commodity-ordering features of the app during the 4-month evaluation period, and nearly 1 in 10 PrEP-eligible men started PrEP, with most attributing their decision to start PrEP in part to the app. A broader, randomized controlled study of the impact of the app on uptake of prevention behaviors for MSM is warranted.

Keywords: condoms; homosexuality, male; mobile applications; pilot projects; pre-exposure prophylaxis; sexual minorities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percent of MSM participants that used features or viewed pages in the app during a 4-month pilot study, United States, 2015 (n=109). MSM: men who have sex with men.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McCormack S, Dunn DT, Desai M, Dolling DI, Gafos M, Gilson R, Sullivan AK, Clarke A, Reeves I, Schembri G, Mackie N, Bowman C, Lacey CJ, Apea V, Brady M, Fox J, Taylor S, Antonucci S, Khoo SH, Rooney J, Nardone A, Fisher M, McOwan A, Phillips AN, Johnson AM, Gazzard B, Gill ON. Pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent the acquisition of HIV-1 infection (PROUD): effectiveness results from the pilot phase of a pragmatic open-label randomised trial. Lancet. 2016 Jan 02;387(10013):53–60. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00056-2. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140-6736(15)00056-2 S0140-6736(15)00056-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Molina J, Capitant C, Spire B, Pialoux G, Cotte L, Charreau I, Tremblay C, Le Gall J, Cua E, Pasquet A, Raffi F, Pintado C, Chidiac C, Chas J, Charbonneau P, Delaugerre C, Suzan-Monti M, Loze B, Fonsart J, Peytavin G, Cheret A, Timsit J, Girard G, Lorente N, Préau M, Rooney JF, Wainberg MA, Thompson D, Rozenbaum W, Doré V, Marchand L, Simon M, Etien N, Aboulker J, Meyer L, Delfraissy J, ANRS IPERGAY Study Group On-demand preexposure prophylaxis in men at high risk for HIV-1 infection. N Engl J Med. 2015 Dec 03;373(23):2237–46. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1506273. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Grant RM, Lama JR, Anderson PL, McMahan V, Liu AY, Vargas L, Goicochea P, Casapía M, Guanira-Carranza JV, Ramirez-Cardich ME, Montoya-Herrera O, Fernández T, Veloso VG, Buchbinder SP, Chariyalertsak S, Schechter M, Bekker L, Mayer KH, Kallás EG, Amico KR, Mulligan K, Bushman LR, Hance RJ, Ganoza C, Defechereux P, Postle B, Wang F, McConnell JJ, Zheng J, Lee J, Rooney JF, Jaffe HS, Martinez AI, Burns DN, Glidden DV, iPrEx ST. Preexposure chemoprophylaxis for HIV prevention in men who have sex with men. N Engl J Med. 2010 Dec 30;363(27):2587–99. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1011205. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/21091279 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sullivan P, Wolitski R. HIV infection among gaybisexual men. In: Wolitski RJ, Stall R, Valdiserri RO, editors. Unequal Oppportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press; 2007. pp. 220–47.
    1. CDC. 2013. [2017-02-14]. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 2011 https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html .

LinkOut - more resources