Abstract
BackgroundMen who have sex with men (MSM) have a disproportionate burden of HIV infection. Mobile phone apps provide a promising means of improving HIV prevention among MSM. But this has received little examination in China. The objective of this study was to explore MSM’s preferences for an HIV prevention mobile phone app.MethodsQualitative semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with 19 MSM to determine their preferences for features and content to inform the design of an app aimed at HIV prevention in China.ResultsFive categories were identified under the main category preferences for features of the app: target population, attributes, language used, potential user access, and perceived usefulness. Five categories were identified under the main category preferences for content of the app: functions to facilitate HIV testing behavior, HIV post-exposure prevention, warning against substance use, psychological support, and areas for communication.ConclusionsFindings suggest that the design of an app targeting MSM in China should use an integrated framework addressing behavioral and psychological aspects, satisfy common needs of potential users, avoid perpetuating negative stereotypes and stigma, and avoid possible increase of risk behavior due to using the app.
Highlights
Men who have sex with men (MSM) have a disproportionate burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection
Three of them had experiences as peer education volunteers, one was living with HIV
All of the interviews were conducted in Changsha, the participants were from different regions of China, including six provinces: Henan, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan
Summary
Mobile phone apps provide a promising means of improving HIV prevention among MSM. This has received little examination in China. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with 19 MSM to determine their preferences for features and content to inform the design of an app aimed at HIV prevention in China. Men who have sex with men (MSM) have a disproportionate burden of HIV infections. Mobile phone apps have great potential to obtain these features and become a vital window of opportunity to protect MSM from HIV infection and promote their sexual health [4]. Various gay-dating apps have become primary approaches for their social networking
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