TY - JOUR
T1 - Crowdsourcing to promote HIV testing among MSM in China
T2 - Study protocol for a stepped wedge randomized controlled trial
AU - SESH Study Group
AU - Tucker, Joseph D.
AU - Wei, Chongyi
AU - Li, Haochu
AU - Liu, Chuncheng
AU - Tang, Songyuan
AU - Tang, Weiming
AU - Glidden, David
AU - Hudgens, Michael
AU - Mollan, Katie
AU - Chen, Zihuang
AU - Han, Larry
AU - Cao, Bolin
AU - Fenton, Kevin
AU - Saffer, Adam
AU - Hightow-Weidman, Lisa
AU - Mitchell, Kate
AU - Ong, Jason
AU - Terris-Prestholt, Fern
AU - Smith, Kumi
AU - Vickerman, Peter
AU - Bayus, Barry
AU - Peeling, Rosanna
AU - Durvasula, Maya
AU - Fu, Rong
AU - Huang, Shujie
AU - Mao, Jessica
AU - Pan, Stephen
AU - Qin, Yilu
AU - Stein, Gabriella
AU - Tucker, Joseph D.
AU - Wang, Cheng
AU - Yang, Bin
AU - Yang, Ligang
AU - Zhang, Tiange P.
AU - Zhang, Wei
AU - Zhang, Ye
AU - Zheng, Heping
AU - Hu, Wenqi
AU - Kang, Dianmin
AU - Liao, Meizhen
AU - Ma, Wei
AU - Xue, Li
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/10/2
Y1 - 2017/10/2
N2 - Background: HIV testing for marginalized populations is critical to controlling the HIV epidemic. However, the HIV testing rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China remains low. Crowdsourcing, the process of shifting individual tasks to a group, has been increasingly adopted in public health programs and may be a useful tool for spurring innovation in HIV testing campaigns. We designed a multi-site study to develop a crowdsourced HIV test promotion campaign and evaluate its effectiveness against conventional campaigns among MSM in China. Methods: This study will use an adaptation of the stepped wedge, randomized controlled trial design. A total of eight major metropolitan cities in China will be randomized to sequentially initiate interventions at 3-month intervals. The intervention uses crowdsourcing at multiple steps to sustain crowd contribution. Approximately 1280 MSM, who are 16 years of age or over, live in the intervention city, have not been tested for HIV in the past 3 mmonths, and are not living with HIV, will be recruited. Recruitment will take place through banner advertisements on a large gay dating app along with other social media platforms. Participants will complete one follow-up survey every 3 months for 12 months to evaluate their HIV testing uptake in the past 3 months and secondary outcomes including syphilis testing, sex without condoms, community engagement, testing stigma, and other related outcomes. Discussion: MSM HIV testing rates remain poor in China. Innovative methods to promote HIV testing are urgently needed. With a large-scale, stepped wedge, randomized controlled trial our study can improve understanding of crowdsourcing's long-term effectiveness in public health campaigns, expand HIV testing coverage among a key population, and inform intervention design in related public health fields. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02796963. Registered on 23 May 2016.
AB - Background: HIV testing for marginalized populations is critical to controlling the HIV epidemic. However, the HIV testing rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China remains low. Crowdsourcing, the process of shifting individual tasks to a group, has been increasingly adopted in public health programs and may be a useful tool for spurring innovation in HIV testing campaigns. We designed a multi-site study to develop a crowdsourced HIV test promotion campaign and evaluate its effectiveness against conventional campaigns among MSM in China. Methods: This study will use an adaptation of the stepped wedge, randomized controlled trial design. A total of eight major metropolitan cities in China will be randomized to sequentially initiate interventions at 3-month intervals. The intervention uses crowdsourcing at multiple steps to sustain crowd contribution. Approximately 1280 MSM, who are 16 years of age or over, live in the intervention city, have not been tested for HIV in the past 3 mmonths, and are not living with HIV, will be recruited. Recruitment will take place through banner advertisements on a large gay dating app along with other social media platforms. Participants will complete one follow-up survey every 3 months for 12 months to evaluate their HIV testing uptake in the past 3 months and secondary outcomes including syphilis testing, sex without condoms, community engagement, testing stigma, and other related outcomes. Discussion: MSM HIV testing rates remain poor in China. Innovative methods to promote HIV testing are urgently needed. With a large-scale, stepped wedge, randomized controlled trial our study can improve understanding of crowdsourcing's long-term effectiveness in public health campaigns, expand HIV testing coverage among a key population, and inform intervention design in related public health fields. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02796963. Registered on 23 May 2016.
KW - China
KW - Crowdsourcing
KW - HIV
KW - HIV testing
KW - Men who have sex with men (MSM)
KW - Stepped wedge randomized controlled trial
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030698141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85030698141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s13063-017-2183-1
DO - 10.1186/s13063-017-2183-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 28969702
AN - SCOPUS:85030698141
SN - 1745-6215
VL - 18
JO - Trials
JF - Trials
IS - 1
M1 - 447
ER -
