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Clinical Trial
. 2019 May 2;14(5):e0216282.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216282. eCollection 2019.

Using mobile technology to engage sexual and gender minorities in clinical research

Mitchell R Lunn  1   2   3 , Matthew R Capriotti  1   4 , Annesa Flentje  1   5 , Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo  1   3   6 , Mark J Pletcher  1   6   7 , Antony J Triano  8 , Chollada Sooksaman  8 , Jeffrey Frazier  8 , Juno Obedin-Maliver  1   3   9
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Using mobile technology to engage sexual and gender minorities in clinical research

Mitchell R Lunn et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Historical and current stigmatizing and discriminatory experiences drive sexual and gender minority (SGM) people away from health care and clinical research. Being medically underserved, they face numerous disparities that make them vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Effective methods to engage and recruit SGM people into clinical research studies are needed.

Objectives: To promote health equity and understand SGM health needs, we sought to design an online, national, longitudinal cohort study entitled The PRIDE (Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality) Study that enabled SGM people to safely participate, provide demographic and health data, and generate SGM health-related research ideas.

Methods: We developed an iPhone mobile application ("app") to engage and recruit SGM people to The PRIDE Study-Phase 1. Participants completed demographic and health surveys and joined in asynchronous discussions about SGM health-related topics important to them for future study.

Results: The PRIDE Study-Phase 1 consented 18,099 participants. Of them, 16,394 provided data. More than 98% identified as a sexual minority, and more than 15% identified as a gender minority. The sample was diverse in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, geographic location, education, and individual income. Participants completed 24,022 surveys, provided 3,544 health topics important to them, and cast 60,522 votes indicating their opinion of a particular health topic.

Conclusions: We developed an iPhone app that recruited SGM adults and collected demographic and health data for a new national online cohort study. Digital engagement features empowered participants to become committed stakeholders in the research development process. We believe this is the first time that a mobile app has been used to specifically engage and recruit large numbers of an underrepresented population for clinical research. Similar approaches may be successful, convenient, and cost-effective at engaging and recruiting other vulnerable populations into clinical research studies.

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Conflict of interest statement

CS and JF are current employees of THREAD Research. AJT is a former employee of THREAD Research. All other authors have no financial or professional conflicts of interest. This project (including all of the authors) did not receive any financial support from Apple, Incorporated. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Social media sharing images for the PRIDE study.
(A-C) Selected images used to promote The PRIDE Study on social media.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The PRIDE study iPhone app.
(A) Welcome screen. (B) Eligibility screening questions.
Fig 3
Fig 3. The PRIDE study iPhone app: Informed consent.
(A-C) Example screens to guide participants step-by-step through informed consent.
Fig 4
Fig 4. The PRIDE study iPhone app: Community forum.
(A) Participants can quickly browse submitted research topics with associated numbers of upvotes, downvotes, and comments. (B) Participants submit a research topic, the reason it is important, and the appropriate categories.
Fig 5
Fig 5. The PRIDE study iPhone app: Real-time dashboards.
(A) Overall enrolled participant count and distribution of participants with similar demographics. (B) Distribution of participants’ sexual orientations and gender identities. (C) Distribution of participants’ racial/ethnic identities and relationship statuses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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