Developing a Chatbot to Promote HIV Testing

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: HIV Infections
• Interventions: Behavioral: Chatbot messages; Behavioral: Attention-matched educational materials

• Registration Number: NCT04910984
• Lead Sponsor: Yale University

Brief Summary

In this study, the feasibility of a Chatbot in promoting HIV testing in a pilot RCT with 80 men who have sex with men in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will be studied. Participants will be randomized to Chatbot or treatment as usual (TAU) groups. Participants in the intervention group will receive automated personalized messages containing HIV testing-related information, motivation and skills.

Detailed Description

After informed consent, participants will be randomly assigned to Chatbot or TAU groups using stratified randomization by age. Participants in TAU will receive attention-matched educational materials manually sent by the research assistant. Participants in the intervention group will receive an automated personalized question message (root-node message) from the Chabot. In each round of the interactive communication, the Chatbot will provide automated personalized messages containing HIV testing-related information, motivation and skills based on participants' answers and will continuously update over time. Participants will be observed over 180 days with responses and interactions stored on a HIPAA-compliant and protected cloud. An independent assessment of recent testing and reasons why will be sent by link to both TAU and intervention groups using a link to a Qualtrics survey housed on REDCap at baseline and after 90 and 180 days. After 180 days, the RA will send an additional REDCap survey to intervention participants to assess the feasibility of the Chabot to measure 4 key elements: acceptability, practicality, demand, and adaptation.

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-05-27
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-05-27
• Study First Posted: 2021-06-02
• Status Verified: 2024-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-04-17
• Last Update Posted: 2024-04-19
• Study Start: 2024-12-20
• Primary Completion: 2025-10-31
• Study Completion: 2025-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 80

Inclusion Criteria

• cis-gender male
• 18+ years;
• had condomless sex with men in the past 6 months
• has a smartphone
• speaks Bahasa Malay or English.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Not able to read Malay or English

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Chatbot group	Chatbot messages	-
TAU group	Attention-matched educational materials	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in HIV testing	30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days, and 180 days	The efficacy of the Chatbot versus TAU with HIV testing as the primary outcome will be measured. The primacy efficacy outcome is the proportion of MSM who get tested within 180 days. This will be measured every 30 days by asking if MSM tested for HIV in the past 30 days.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Interaction frequency	180 days	The frequency of the interaction between participants and Chatbot
Recruitment rate	180 days	The number of participants contacted divided by the number of participants who signed the consent form
Interaction time	180 days	The time of the interaction between participants and Chatbot
Completion rate	180 days	The number of participants who signed the consent form divided by the number of participants who completed the study

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Malaya; 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pantai Baharu, Malaysia