mobile app

A mobile app aimed at lowering the HIV-transmission rate among men who have sex with men should include an HIV test location finder and should help men to track their sexual activities, new research from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa shows.

For the study, public health researchers conducted in-depth interviews with Spanish-speaking men who have sex with men (a group that includes men who are homosexual, bisexual, questioning their sexual identity or orientation, or heterosexual but having sexual encounters with other men). The researchers asked the men what features they look for in apps, and what aspects of an app would make them likely to use it.

"We know from previous research that there is a need to improve HIV prevention efforts for Latino men who have sex with men in the U.S., and to help these men get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections," said Jason Mitchell, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor with the Office of Public Health Studies at UH. "Mobile apps are a great way to get information and resources out to people, but prior to our research, there weren't any studies that had asked these men what they wanted in an app, and what might motivate them to download an app and keep using it over time," said Mitchell, who is the lead author of the new study.

The researchers recruited men in the Miami area whose primary language was Spanish through Facebook ads and flyers. They interviewed 15 men and then analyzed the transcripts of the interviews, looking for common themes.

When asked what they looked for in apps in general, all of the men said that it was very important to them that apps keep their personal information secure and confidential. Most said they were willing to pay for apps that were useful to them. The men also said they tended to download apps that their friends had used and liked.  

As for an HIV-prevention app, almost all of the men said they would like an app to send them reminders to get tested for HIV on certain dates and show them the nearest location where they could get tested. Most of the men also said they would like the app to send them information about HIV, either through text messages or alerts, and that they would want a feature in the app that would help them keep track of how many sexual partners and encounters they had.

"These findings could help guide future efforts to develop an HIV prevention app for Spanish-speaking men who have sex with men," Mitchell said.

The study will be published in a future issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research: Public Health & Surveillance. Mitchell's co-authors included researchers Maria Beatriz Torres of Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, Lucy Asmar of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, and Thu Danh and Keith Horvath, both of the University of Minnesota.

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