Use of the PrEP mini-app and qualitative feedback
LGBTQIA
EVENTS
All 43 participants in the PrEP mini-app used the app at least once following their enrollment. During the study course (November 16, 2020 –April 6, 2021), the mini-app received an average daily traffic of 4.2 visits overall (SD = 5.5), calculated using the WeChat mini-app backend data. A total of 13 (28.3%) participants in the mini-app arm used the HIV/syphilis at-home test ordering feature to order 39 test kits (no cap on the numbers of tests kits each participant could order). During the active intervention period, a total of 10 (21.7%) participants initiated 13 online chats. No participants reported any technical issues during the trial. Some participants mentioned in qualitative interviews that they had shared the passcode to the mini-app with friends outside of the study when they were asked about PrEP or HIV-related questions, which might have led to an overestimation of the daily visits to the mini-app by real participants.At the end of the active intervention period (Week 8), most participants rated the mini-app as “somewhat helpful” (54.5%) or “very helpful” (27.3%). About 48.9% of the participants in the mini-app group rated the PrEP mini-app with a score indicative of “above-average” usability as measured by the SUS (
Participants in qualitative interviews also suggested future app refinement could include: (1) regular updates of local news, events (specifically for LGBTQIA communities), and HIV/PrEP-related research findings; (2) expanding content topics in the Mini-classroom (e.g., tips for better sex, anal health, men’s health in general, and how to better incorporate PrEP into daily life routines, etc.); (3) enriching the media forms of educational materials, such as using short-videos or infographics instead of text-heavy articles; (4) adding a pill-taking history tracker; and (5) adding more communication features that allow the users to interact with each other, such as an anonymous forum, comments under each of the articles in the Mini-classroom.