Health TrialsbyHealthPanel

Leveraging Chatbot to Improve PrEP in the Southern United States

ConditionsHIV PreventionPrEP AwarenessPrEP Uptake
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexMale
Age18+
SponsorYale University

About this trial

The purpose of this study is to develop a chatbot intervention to promote PrEP awareness and uptake among Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Southern United States.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Being cisgender Black male

Being aged ≥ 18 years

Having Internet access

Speaking English

Disqualifiers

Not residing in a U.S. Census Bureau-defined Southern state: AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV.

Having received antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment.

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

  • A chatbot designed to promote PrEP awareness and uptake for Black MSM

    Device

    Participants in the intervention group will have access to a theory-informed (Self-Determination Theory) chatbot and receive an automated personalized question message (root-node message) from the chatbot. The root-node messages are questions written into the chatbot algorithms to initiate interactive communication with participants. In each round of the interactive communication, the chatbot will provide automated personalized PrEP-related information, autonomous motivation, and psychological needs based on Self-Determination Theory constructs.

  • General educational messages

    Other intervention

    Participants in the control group will received general education messages from a research assistant including healthy diet, exercise, and COVID-19 prevention. The frequency of contact will be pre-specified by participants in interviews prior to the RCT.

Treatment groups

145 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: Intervention groupExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Control groupPlacebo comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Change from baseline PrEP awareness in 90 days

PrEP awareness will be measured as the proportion of participants who are aware of PrEP. Specifically, the investigators will collect PrEP awareness by asking participants standardized questions through a Qualtrics survey.

Time frame
At the baseline, 30, 60, and 90 days
2

Change from baseline PrEP uptake in 90 days

PrEP uptake will be measured as the mean of the frequency of taking PrEP medication. Specifically, the investigators will collect PrEP uptake by asking participants through a Qualtrics survey if they have been taken PrEP at baseline and every 30 days. If participants respond that they have taken PrEP, the investigators will ask them the date and frequency of taking it and ask them to upload a photo of their PrEP for verification to reduce social desirability bias in responses.

Time frame
At the baseline, 30, 60, and 90 days

Secondary outcomes

1

Usability score

The usability score will be measured by the System Usability Scale, which is 5-point Likert scale consisted of 10 questions. Participants' scores range from 0 to 100. A score of 68 is average, below 68 is poor, above 68 is good, and above 80.3 is excellent.

Time frame
At 90 days
2

Recommendation score

The recommendation score will be calculated by a Net Promote Score, which measures MSM's likelihood to recommend the chatbot to other MSM friends. The score ranges from 0 to 10. The higher the score, the better the recommendation score.

Time frame
At 90 days
3

Acceptability score

Acceptability, defined as the extent to which the chatbot is suitable and satisfactory to MSM, will be measured using the standardized Customer Satisfaction Scale "How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the chatbot?" and a 5-point Likert question "How would you rate the likelihood of continuing to use the chatbot?"

Time frame
At 90 days
4

Practicality score

Practicality defined as the extent to which the chatbot provides real-time Self-Determination theory inputs, will be measured using a 5-point Likert question "How would you rate the overall quality of the chatbot?"

Time frame
At 90 days

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

Yale University

Lead sponsor

Gilead Sciences

Collaborator

Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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