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. 2019 Sep;23(9):2273-2303.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-019-02507-7.

The Effectiveness of Social Marketing Interventions to Improve HIV Testing Among Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Systematic Review

Lisa McDaid  1 , Julie Riddell  2 , Gemma Teal  3 , Nicola Boydell  4 , Nicky Coia  5 , Paul Flowers  2
Affiliations

The Effectiveness of Social Marketing Interventions to Improve HIV Testing Among Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Systematic Review

Lisa McDaid et al. AIDS Behav. 2019 Sep.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

HIV testing is central to biomedical HIV prevention, but testing among men who have sex with men remains suboptimal. We evaluated effectiveness of mass media and communication interventions to increase HIV testing and explored patterns between study type, internal validity and intervention effectiveness for the first time. Five databases were searched for articles published between 2009 and 2016 using standard MeSH terms. Eligible studies were quality appraised using standard checklists for risk of bias. Data were extracted and synthesised narratively. Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria; 11 were cross-sectional/non-comparative studies, four were pre/post or interrupted time series, three were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one was a case study. Risk of bias was high. Five cross-sectional (two graded as high internal validity, one medium and two low) and one RCT (medium validity) reported increased HIV testing. Further work is required to develop and evaluate interventions to increase frequency and maintenance of HIV testing.

Las pruebas del VIH son fundamentales para la prevención biomédica de esa enfermedad, pero la adherencia a esas pruebas entre hombres que tienen relaciones sexuales con hombres sigue siendo subóptima. Hemos evaluado la efectividad de los medios masivos y las intervenciones de comunicación para aumentar la adherencia a las pruebas de VIH. También hemos explorado los patrones entre el tipo de estudio, la validez interna y la efectividad de la intervención por primera vez. Se realizaron búsquedas en cinco bases de datos de artículos publicados entre 2009–2016 utilizando términos estándar MeSH. Los estudios elegibles se evaluaron por calidad utilizando listas de verificación estándar para el riesgo de sesgo. Los datos fueron extraídos y sintetizados narrativamente. Diecinueve estudios cumplieron los criterios de inclusión; once fueron estudios transversales/no comparativos, cuatro fueron series temporales pre/post o interrumpidas, tres fueron ensayos controlados aleatorios (ECA) y uno fue un estudio de caso. El riesgo de sesgo fue alto. Cinco estudios transversales (dos de alta validez interna, uno de media y dos de baja) así como un ECA (de validez media) reportaron un incremento en el número de pruebas de VIH. Se requiere más trabajo para desarrollar y evaluar intervenciones para aumentar la frecuencia y el mantenimiento de las pruebas de VIH.

Keywords: Communications; HIV testing; Mass media; Men who have sex with men; Social Marketing; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prisma flow chart for study selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Logic model for an evidence-informed, theoretically-based, social marketing intervention to increase regular HIV testing among GBMS
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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