Abstract
HIV testing is central to biomedical HIV prevention, but testing among men who have sex with men remains suboptimal. We evaluated effectiveness of mass media and communication interventions to increase HIV testing and explored patterns between study type, internal validity and intervention effectiveness for the first time. Five databases were searched for articles published between 2009 and 2016 using standard MeSH terms. Eligible studies were quality appraised using standard checklists for risk of bias. Data were extracted and synthesised narratively. Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria; 11 were cross-sectional/non-comparative studies, four were pre/post or interrupted time series, three were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one was a case study. Risk of bias was high. Five cross-sectional (two graded as high internal validity, one medium and two low) and one RCT (medium validity) reported increased HIV testing. Further work is required to develop and evaluate interventions to increase frequency and maintenance of HIV testing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2273-2303 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | AIDS and Behavior |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Early online date | 20 Apr 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2019 |
Funding
This study was funded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. LMcD, JR and PF are funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO) at the MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow (MC_UU_12017/11, SPHSU11; MC_UU_12017/12, SPHSU12). NB was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO) at the MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow (MC_UU_12017/11, SPHSU11). We thank the Candida Fenton at MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit for advice and support in developing the search strategy and conducting the literature searches. We thank the Steve Retson Project Social Marketing Campaign Advisory Group for their support and advice in the development of this project and Andry Cruz Diaz for translation services. Nicky Coia contributed to the research process, up to and including drafting of the paper. The funding bodies had no other role in the preparation or submission of the manuscript, and the views expressed are those of the authors alone.
Keywords
- communications
- HIV testing
- mass media
- men who have sex with men
- social marketing
- systematic review