Information Seeking About Pre-exposure Prophylaxis

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
• Interventions: Behavioral: Injectable PrEP information; Behavioral: Oral PrEP information

• Registration Number: NCT05728034
• Lead Sponsor: Penn State University

Brief Summary

The goal of these two intervention studies is to test promising health communication messaging strategies most likely to enhance Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White YMSM's (young men who have sex with men's) engagement with online content about injectable and oral PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). Participants will be asked to browse a mock Google results page featuring various kinds of PrEP information, and their browsing behavior will be unobtrusively logged. In Study 1, participants will be randomly assigned to browse for information about oral PrEP or browse for information about injectable PrEP. The design of Study 2 will be identical to Study 1 but will focus only on injectable PrEP content. In addition to browsing behavior, visual behavior data will also be collected in Study 2 with eye-trackers.

Detailed Description

Study 1 (online between-subjects experiment): An online sample of YMSM (N = 600) will be strategically recruited to partake in a web-based survey experiment following a mixed experimental design: 2 (PrEP type \[between\]: oral or injectable PrEP) X 5 (messaging strategy \[within\]: response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, \& basic information). The survey will begin by determining eligibility (self-report screener questions), gathering consent, and asking participants to self-report on several psychographic measures (PrEP awareness, knowledge, interest, and stigma). Participants will then be asked to interact with a mock Google results page featuring an array of information about PrEP. The survey will randomly assign participants to one of two versions of the mock Google search page: Half of participants (n = 300) will browse for information about oral PrEP, and the other half (n = 300) will browse for information about injectable PrEP. This browsing experience will unobtrusively log browsing data (clicks, page durations). Participants will be able to click on the links on the search results page (which reflect the five messaging strategies), visit those pages, and return to the main results page. After three minutes, participants will then be asked to self-report their intention to adopt PrEP. They will then be debriefed.

Study 2 (in-person within-subjects experiment): Interested participants will complete an initial screening questionnaire to ensure eligibility and then be linked to a separate survey to provide their contact information. Upon arrival to the study site, participants (N = 75) will begin by providing consent. They will then complete the same measures as Study 1 of PrEP interest, knowledge, and stigma. A research assistant will lead participants through a calibration activity to ensure the eye-trackers are able to track the participants' eye gaze. Participants will complete the same mock browsing experience as Study 1 with the exception that all participants will browse for information about injectable PrEP. The survey software will unobtrusively log browsing behavior (clicks, page durations) while eye-trackers will unobtrusively track visual behavior (fixations). Participants will then self-report their intent to use PrEP and be debriefed by a research assistant,

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-02-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-02-13
• Study First Posted: 2023-02-14
• Study Start: 2023-05-30
• Status Verified: 2023-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-09-19
• Last Update Posted: 2023-09-21
• Primary Completion: 2024-12
• Study Completion: 2025-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 675

Inclusion Criteria

• Have an Internet-connectable device (Study 1 only)
• Be 18-34 years of age
• Identify as cisgender male
• Identify as gay or bisexual
• Be HIV negative
• Have had anal sex in the past 6 months
• Meet one of the following criteria: a. Have a sexual partner with HIV, b. Have inconsistent condom use, c. Have received an STI diagnosis in the last 6 months.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Does not meet all of the criteria above

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Injectable PrEP information	Injectable PrEP information	A mock Google search results page with five search results that reflect five messaging strategies about injectable PrEP (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information), displayed in random order.
Oral PrEP information (Study 1 only)	Oral PrEP information	A mock Google search results page with five search results that reflect five messaging strategies about oral PrEP (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information), displayed in random order.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Visual behavior - Total fixation duration (Study 2 only)	Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)	Total fixation duration can be defined as how long the eyes dwell on a particular object in one's field of vision. Total fixation duration will be recorded by mobile eye-trackers.
Browsing behavior - Total page duration	Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)	SoSciSurvey software will unobtrusively log the amount of time (in seconds) participants spend on the different search results after clicking on it, with each search result reflecting a different messaging strategy (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information). Our analysis will focus on the total amount of time participants spend on the page for each of the different search results/messaging strategies as a behavioral indicator of message engagement.
Browsing behavior - First click	Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)	SoSciSurvey software will unobtrusively log the clicks participants will make on the different search results, with each search result reflecting a different messaging strategy (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information). Our analysis will focus on which search result/messaging strategy participants click on first as a behavioral indicator of message engagement.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Open-ended responses	Will be measured immediately after completing the browsing task	Participants will be given an opportunity to list any other thoughts and suggestions they have about the kinds of messaging strategies about injectable PrEP that might engage their attention.
Change in intention to adopt PrEP	Will be measured immediately after completing the browsing task	Self-reported change in intention to initiate PrEP, assessed on a 0-100 sliding scale (0 = definitely not, 100 = definitely yes). Thus, higher scores reflect greater intentions to use PrEP.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Pennsylvania State University; 🇺🇸 University Park, Pennsylvania, United States