Feasibility of WeTest-Plus for providing a continuum of HIV services for MSM at risk: Pilot study of a mobile health program in 3 cities in China (Preprint)

Abstract

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in China have high risk for HIV infection but evince suboptimal rates of HIV testing and service engagement due to various social and structural barriers. We developed a mobile health (mHealth) intervention entitled “WeTest-Plus” (WeTest+) as a user-centered “one-stop service” approach for delivering access to comprehensive information about HIV risk, HIV self-testing, behavioral and biomedical prevention, confirmatory testing, treatment, and care.

The goal of the current study was to investigate the feasibility of WeTest+ to provide continuous HIV services to high-risk MSM.

Participants were recruited from 3 large metropolitan cities in China (Chengdu, Suzhou, Wuhan) for a 3-week pilot test of WeTest+ to examine acceptability, feasibility, and recommendations for improvement. Participants completed a structured online questionnaire and qualitative exit interviews facilitated by project staff. “Click-through” rates were assessed to examine engagement with online content.

Almost all participants (96.4%) remained engaged with the WeTest+ program over a 3-week observational period. The majority (92.9%) self-administered the HIV self-test and submitted their test results through the online platform. Overall click-through rates were high (average 67.9%). Participants provided favorable comments about the quality and relevance of the WeTest+ information content, the engaging style of information presentation, and the user-centered features.

This pilot assessment of WeTest+ supports the promise of this program for promoting HIV self-testing and linkage to in-person services. Findings underscore the utility of a user-centered approach to MHealth program design.