DISCUSSION
depression, facility‐based HIV, two‐thirds
SECONDARY
Findings reveal the potential of HIVST and mHealth to address refugee youth's HIV testing needs in an urban Ugandan context. Among this sample of urban refugee youth, two‐thirds of whom had not tested in the year before the intervention, testing uptake and status knowledge in the HIVST and HIVST+ arms were higher (<90%) compared to those receiving SOC at 8 and 12 months (approximately 30%). HIVST offers great promise to contribute to efforts to achieve the UNAIDS goal of 95% of people knowing their status in urban youth refugee communities in Uganda and warrants further exploration in larger trials.Findings align with prior research on the feasibility and acceptability of HIVST in Uganda among non‐refugees [There were some modest changes in secondary outcomes, including stigma and depression. Stigma regarding HIV and SRH increased among those receiving HIVST alone, while adolescent SRH stigma decreased among those receiving HIVST alongside mHealth peer support. These findings suggest that youth may encounter stigma when engaging with HIVST, particularly when self‐testing without mHealth support. Prior research suggests that facility‐based HIV testing may increase stigma exposure, potentially through encounters with healthcare workers, family members, community members and/or friends [We found that participants in the HIVST arm reported reduced depression, but no change was reported among the HIVST+ group. This could be partially due to only 60% of the mHealth arm engaging with WelTel due to variable technical/economic issues. Future research could explore COVID‐19 impacts on technology access and strategies to enhance health equity in digital clinical trials with urban refugees [There were study limitations that can inform future humanitarian research. First, there was a larger LTFU than anticipated, in part due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This is a generally mobile population, with high levels of income insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic [