{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: A Multicomponent Intervention (POSSIBLE) to Improve Perceived Risk for HIV Among Black Sexual Minority Men: Feasibility and Preliminary Effectiveness Pilot Study.
{Author}: Dangerfield Ii DT;Anderson JN;Wylie C;Bluthenthal R;Beyrer C;Farley JE;
{Journal}: JMIR Hum Factors
{Volume}: 11
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 2024 Jun 11
暂无{DOI}: 10.2196/54739
{Abstract}: <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Increased pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use is urgently needed to substantially decrease HIV incidence among Black sexual minority men. Low perceived risk for HIV (PRH) is a key unaddressed PrEP barrier for Black sexual minority men. Peers and smartphone apps are popular intervention tools to promote community health behaviors, but few studies have used these together in a multicomponent strategy. Therefore, we designed a multicomponent intervention called POSSIBLE that used an existing smartphone app called PrEPme (Emocha Mobile Health, Inc) and a peer change agent (PCA) to increase PRH as a gateway to PrEP.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This paper aims to describe the feasibility and preliminary impact of POSSIBLE on PRH and willingness to accept a PrEP referral among Black sexual minority men.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>POSSIBLE was a theoretically guided, single-group, 2-session pilot study conducted among Black sexual minority men from Baltimore, Maryland between 2019 and 2021 (N=69). POSSIBLE integrated a PCA and the PrEPme app that allows users to self-monitor sexual risk behaviors and chat with the in-app community health worker to obtain PrEP service information. PRH was assessed using the 8-item PRH scale before and after baseline and follow-up study visits. At the end of each study visit, the PCA referred interested individuals to the community health worker to learn more about PrEP service options.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The average age of participants was 32.5 (SD 8.1, range 19-62) years. In total, 55 (80%) participants were retained for follow-up at month 1. After baseline sessions, 29 (42%) participants were willing to be referred to PrEP services, 20 (69%) of those confirmed scheduled appointments with PrEP care teams. There were no statistically significant differences in PRH between baseline and follow-up visits (t122=-1.36; P=.17).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>We observed no statistically significant improvement in PRH between baseline and month 1. However, given the high retention rate and acceptability, POSSIBLE may be feasible to implement. Future research should test a statistically powered peer-based approach on PrEP initiation among Black sexual minority men.<BR><B>BACKGROUND: </B>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04533386; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04533386.