Personalized Normative Feedback to Increase HIV Testing

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: HIV Stigma; HIV Testing

Treatments: Other: Survey questionnaire

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT06969677

R01MH125667 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

2013P000395_4

Details and patient eligibility

About

Randomized trial to measure the effect of personalized normative feedback about local HIV testing rates and local rates of HIV-related stigma on self-reported HIV testing intentions and perceptions about others' HIV testing intentions.

Full description

HIV testing is a vital step in identifying and treating HIV. Research in rural Uganda reveals underestimation of community HIV testing rates and overestimation of HIV-related stigma among adults. At the same time, perceived norms (i.e., estimated rates regardless of their accuracy) are associated with personal HIV testing behavior and personal HIV-related attitudes.

This study employs a randomized controlled trial to evaluate how providing accurate information about local descriptive (i.e., behavioral) norms and local injunctive (i.e., attitudinal) norms affect HIV testing intentions. Participants are randomly assigned to one of four treatment arms: (1) they are reminded of what they thought community testing rates were in their village and then receive accurate information about high community testing rates, (2) they are reminded of what they thought local stigma rates were in their village and then receive accurate information about positive community perceptions of persons with HIV, (3) they are reminded of what they thought community testing rates and local stigma rates were in their village and then receive both types of accurate normative information, or (4) they are reminded of what they thought community testing rates were in their village and receive no further information (control group).

The study assesses how providing this type of personalized normative feedback within cohort-based data collection affects personal reports about getting tested for HIV in the next 12 months and how it affects perceptions about how many men and women in the same village will get tested for HIV in the next 12 months. It is hypothesized that providing accurate information about local community testing rates and/or attitudes toward persons with HIV will increase reported personal willingness to get tested (primary outcome) and improve the accuracy of estimated community testing rates in the future (secondary outcome).

Enrollment: 1,300 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All adults who consider Nyakabare their primary place of residence and who are capable of providing consent

Exclusion criteria

• Minors younger than 18 years of age, with the exception of emancipated minors
• Persons who do not consider Nyakabare Parish their primary place of residence, e.g. persons who happen to be visiting Nyakabare at the time of the survey or who own a home in Nyakabare but spend most of their time outside of the parish
• Persons with psychosis, neurological damage, acute intoxication, or other cognitive impairment (all of which are determined informally in the field by non-clinical research staff in consultation with a supervisor)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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1,300 participants in 4 patient groups

V1: Control Group

Experimental group

Description:

As this is a survey experiment, the "intervention" involves random assignment to a survey questionnaire with specific prompts. The first prompt states the participant's perceived estimate (elicited previously during the survey) of HIV testing rates among single and married people in their village. No other norms-based information is provided. Participants are then asked to report their likelihood of getting tested for HIV in the next 12 months, ranging from 1= I will definitely get tested to 5= I will definitely not get tested. Next they are asked to estimate the rate of HIV testing in the next 12 months among men and women in their village, ranging from 1 = All or almost all, at least 90% of group to 5= Very few, or no one, for example, less than 10% of group.

Treatment:

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

V2: PNF - Descriptive norms only

Experimental group

Description:

As this is a survey experiment, the "intervention" involves random assignment to a survey questionnaire with specific treatments. The second treatment is a survey-based questionnaire with a prompt stating the participant's perceived estimate (elicited previously during the survey) of HIV testing rates among single and married people in their village. Participants are then provided with the true rates of HIV testing among men and women in their village, along with information that these rate are consistent across demographic groups. Participants are then asked to report their likelihood of getting tested for HIV in the next 12 months, ranging from 1= I will definitely get tested to 5= I will definitely not get tested. Next they are asked to estimate the rates of HIV testing in the next 12 months among men and women in their village, ranging from 1 = All or almost all, at least 90% of group to 5= Very few, or no one, for example, less than 10% of group.

Treatment:

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

V3: PNF - Injunctive norms only

Experimental group

Description:

As this is a survey experiment, the "intervention" involves random assignment to a survey questionnaire with specific treatments. The third treatment is a survey-based questionnaire with a prompt stating the participant's perceived estimate (elicited previously during the survey) of HIV testing rates among single and married people in their village. Participants are then provided with information about the true rates of HIV stigma in their village. Participants are then asked to report their likelihood of getting tested for HIV in the next 12 months, ranging from 1= I will definitely get tested to 5= I will definitely not get tested. Next they are asked to estimate the rate of HIV testing in the next 12 months among men and women in their community, ranging from 1 = All or almost all, at least 90% of group to 5= Very few, or no one, for example, less than 10% of group.

Treatment:

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

V4: PNF - Descriptive and injunctive norms

Experimental group

Description:

As this is a survey experiment, the "intervention" involves random assignment to a survey questionnaire with specific treatments. The fourth treatment is a survey-based questionnaire with a prompt stating the participant's perceived estimate (elicited previously during the survey) of HIV testing rates among single and married people in their village. Participants are then provided with information about the true rates of both HIV testing and HIV stigma in their village. Participants are then asked to report their likelihood of getting tested for HIV in the next 12 months, ranging from 1= I will definitely get tested to 5= I will definitely not get tested. Next they are asked to estimate the rate of HIV testing in the next 12 months among men and women in their community, ranging from 1 = All or almost all, at least 90% of group to 5= Very few, or no one, for example, less than 10% of group.

Treatment:

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire

Other: Survey questionnaire