Objective: 

To determine how weekly text messages and small incentives impact HIV knowledge and frequency of HIV testing among Latinx sexual minority men (LSMM) and transgender women (LTGW).

Design: 

Prospectively randomized participants into 2 intervention arms compared with a nonrandomized comparison group.

Setting: 

Bienestar, a primarily Latinx focused HIV service provider located across Los Angeles County.

Subjects, Participants: 

Two hundred eighteen participants self-identifying as LSMM or LTGW, HIV negative, having regular mobile phone access, ≥18 years, and fluent in English or Spanish.

Intervention: 

The “information only” (IO) group received text messages with HIV prevention information. The “information plus” (IP) group additionally could win incentives by answering weekly quiz questions correctly and testing for HIV once every 3 months. We followed participants for 12 months.

Main Outcome Measure(s): 

HIV knowledge and frequency of HIV testing.

Results: 

We found no effect on HIV knowledge in the IO group but a statistically significant improvement in the IP group (79.2%–88.1%; P = 0.007). The frequency of HIV testing was higher in both intervention groups relative to the comparison group: On average, 22.0% of IO participants and 24.9% of IP participants tested at a Bienestar site within a given 3-month period, compared with 13.0% in the comparison group. This represents unadjusted relative risk ratios of 1.69 for the IO group (95% CI: 1.25 to 2.1; P < 0.01) and 1.91 for the IP group (95% CI: 1.51 to 2.31; P < 0.01), respectively.

Conclusions: 

This study demonstrates that a simple, low-cost intervention may help increase HIV testing frequency among LSMM and LTGW, 2 groups at high HIV risk.

中文翻译：

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简要报告：利用行为经济学增加拉丁裔性少数男性和变性女性的 HIV 知识和检测：一项准实验性试点研究。

客观的： 

确定每周短信和小型激励措施如何影响拉丁裔性少数男性 (LSMM) 和跨性别女性(LTGW) 的 HIV 知识和 HIV 检测频率。

设计： 

与非随机对照组相比，前瞻性地将参与者随机分为 2 个干预组。

环境： 

Bienestar 是一家主要针对拉丁裔的 HIV 服务提供商，位于洛杉矶县。

主题、参与者： 

218 名参与者自我认定为 LSMM 或 LTGW，HIV 阴性，定期使用手机，≥18 岁，英语或西班牙语流利。

干涉： 

“仅供参考”（IO）组收到带有艾滋病毒预防信息的短信。“信息加”（IP）组还可以通过正确回答每周测验问题和每 3 个月检测一次 HIV 来赢得奖励。我们跟踪参与者 12 个月。

主要观察指标）： 

HIV 知识和 HIV 检测频率。

结果： 

我们发现 IO 组对 HIV 知识没有影响，但 IP 组有统计学意义的改善（79.2%–88.1%；P = 0.007）。与对照组相比，两个干预组的 HIV 检测频率均较高：平均而言，22.0% 的 IO 参与者和 24.9% 的 IP 参与者在给定的 3 个月内在 Bienestar 站点进行了检测，而在对照组。这表示 IO 组的未经调整的相对风险比分别为 1.69（95% CI：1.25 至 2.1；P < 0.01）和 IP 组的 1.91（95% CI：1.51 至 2.31；P < 0.01）。

结论： 

这项研究表明，简单、低成本的干预措施可能有助于提高 LSMM 和 LTGW 这两个 HIV 高危人群的 HIV 检测频率。