Project dates: September 2018 - August 2021
Adolescents and young adults at greatest risk for HIV are unlikely to have access to primary care and limited access to HIV testing and prevention education. When youth are offered testing, many decline because they believe that they are not at risk, or because they fear being stigmatized.
In phase 1 of this project, a Mobile Augmented Screening tool was developed to increase HIV testing among youth, and link those who test positive to care. The tool consisted of three components: 1) a tablet-based intervention, which includes a brief video designed to increase HIV testing, 2) automated text-messages to facilitate linkage to care for those who test positive for HIV, and 3) ongoing text-based prevention education for those who test negative or decline testing. Emergency department patients aged 13-24 were interviewed regarding how video and text messages could be used most effectively. Video and text messages were developed based on the information provided from these interviews, and evaluated for efficacy and acceptability.
In phase 2 of this project, effectiveness of the tool was evaluated.
A supplement was awarded to revise an automated substance use screening to facilitate self-reporting of opioid use among people aged 16-30.
These findings will be used to create and evaluate media to prevent initiation of opioid use or progression to opioid use disorder.
Abstract on NIH RePORTER“I didn’t know what they’re gonna do to me: So that’s why I said no”: Why youth decline HIV testing in emergency departments
Behavioral Medicine, 50 (2), 47-54. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2022.2100864. PMCID: PMC9884312.
Ibitoye M, Bennett AS, Bugaghis M, Chernick LS, Des Jarlais DC, Aronson ID (2023).
Provider perspectives on barriers to routine HIV testing of adolescent and young adult patients in emergency department settings
Behavioral Medicine, 49 (2), 204-211. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2021.2020207. PMCID: PMC9240108.
Aronson ID, Zhang JR, Rajan S, Bugaighis M, Marsch LA, Ibitoye M, Chernick LS, Des Jarlais DC (2021).
Mobile augmented screening to increase HIV testing among emergency department patients as young as 13 years
Cureus, 13 (6), e15829. doi: 10.7759/cureus.15829. PMCID: PMC8301293.
Ibitoye M, Lappen H, Freeman R, Jordan AE, Aronson ID (2021).
Technology-based interventions to increase point-of-care HIV testing and linkage to care among youth in the US: A systematic review
AIDS and Behavior, 25 (6), 1829-1838. doi: 10.1007/s10461-020-03112-9. PMCID: PMC7684145.
Aronson ID, Freeman R, Taylor T, Bennett AS (2020).
Developing digital media to destigmatize emergency department Human Immunodeficiency Virus testing among sexual and racial minority youth: A hyper-iterative methodology
Cureus, 12 (3), e7209. doi: 10.7759/cureus.7209 . PMCID: PMC7138468.