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. 2022 Jul 19;5(1):95.
doi: 10.1038/s41746-022-00645-2.

A randomized controlled trial enhancing viral hepatitis testing in primary care via digital crowdsourced intervention

William C W Wong  1   2 , Gifty Marley  3   4 , Jingjing Li  4 , Weihui Yan  1 , Po-Lin Chan  5 , Joseph D Tucker  3   6   7 , Weiming Tang  3   6   8 , Yuxin Ni  4 , Dan Dan Cheng  1 , Lou Cong  1 , Wai-Kay Seto  9   10
Affiliations

A randomized controlled trial enhancing viral hepatitis testing in primary care via digital crowdsourced intervention

William C W Wong et al. NPJ Digit Med. .

Abstract

Despite the availability of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing in primary care, testing rates in China remain low. Social media is an inexpensive means of disseminating information and could facilitate hepatitis testing promotion. We evaluated the capacity of digitally crowdsourced materials to promote HBV/HCV testing uptake via a randomized controlled trial (identifier: ChiCTR1900025771), which enrolled 750 Chinese primary care patients. We randomized patients (1:1) to receive crowdsourced HBV/HCV promotion materials through social media or facility-based care without promotional materials for four weeks. Exposure to all intervention materials was associated with increased odds of HBV (aOR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.09-3.00) and HCV (aOR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.29-2.99) testing compared to facility-based care. There was a significant reduction in hepatitis stigma among intervention group participants (HBV slope: -0.15, p < 0.05; and HCV slope: -0.13, p < 0.05). Digitally crowdsourced promotion messages could enhance hepatitis testing uptake and should be considered in hepatitis reduction strategies.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900025771) on September 9, 2019. Available from: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=42788.

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Conflict of interest statement

P.C. is a staff member of the World Health Organization; the author alone is responsible for the views expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization. W.K. Seto received speaker’s fees from AstraZeneca and Mylan, is an advisory board member of Abbott, is an advisory board member and received speaker’s fees from AbbVie, and is an advisory board member, received speaker’s fees and researching funding from Gilead Sciences. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Study recruitment process.
Flow chart showing participant recruitment, number of participants randomized to the intervention and control groups respectively, and number of participants retained in each group at follow-up.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. HBV and HCV testing uptake and linkage-to-care rates among primary care patients in urban China.
Proportions of study participants in the intervention group vs. control group who accessed HBV and HCV testing and seeked treatment care post-testing at the family medicine and primary care clinic within the 4-weeks study period.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Digital dissemination of digitally crowdsourced intervention materials.
Flowchart showing the process of distributing crowdsourced HBV and HCV testing promotion using social media and accessing hepatitis testing services using the ‘Smart hospital’ online application. Left diagram: digital dissemination cycle of the crowdsourced intervention materials; Right: Honk Kong University Shenzhen hospital online service application platform process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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