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| Abstract #2188 - Generation 2.0 - using the internet in the fight against HIV | ||||
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Session: 37.7: Generation 2.0 - using the internet in the fight against HIV (Symposium) on Thursday @ 14.30-16.00 in C002 Chaired by Tawanda Makusha, Alastair van Heerden Authors: Presenting Author: Mr Koenraad Vermey - STI AIDS Netherlands, Netherlands |
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| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: Online health information and advice platforms continuously collect large amounts of data from their users. Databases of these websites can serve as valuable sources of information, for instance to monitor the impacts of environmental interventions and changes in populations and their behaviors. What can user-generated website data actually tell us about the behavior of specific populations? | ||||
| Method / Issue: In the Netherlands, the programmatic intervention ‘Man tot Man’ (‘Man to Man’) has been operational since 2008, aiming to prevent HIV and STIs among men who have sex with men (MSM). Core to the intervention is the website ‘Mantotman.nl’ which offers a cohesive collection of comprehensive information, tailored advice tools and additional online services for users to arrange free HIV and STI testing and hepatitis B vaccination. The tailored advice questionnaire ‘Sekswijzer’ (‘Sex Advice Tool’) generated records between 2008-2014. Users answered tailored questions about their age, relationship status, number of sex partners, testing behavior and HIV status, vaccination against hepatitis A and B and the use of alcohol and/or drugs for sex. Users were given personalized advice about sex and health issues based on their answers. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM© SPSS© Statistics, describing user characteristics, changes over time and correlations between determinants. To monitor changes over time, cases were split in six periods of twelve months each. Technical updates and changes necessitated a manual validation process of the database before further analyses could be conducted. Between October 2008 and September 2014, 75,694 unique records were generated. Out of the 75,694 records, 63,564 records (84,0%) were answered completely and eligible for analysis. Missing data was caused by -out of participants and by the tailored nature of the questionnaire. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Overall, a majority of the respondents was younger than 26 years (39,7%), single (57,1%) and HIV-negative (62,6%) and had between 1-3 sex partners in the last six months (43,1%). 3,0% indicated to be HIV-positive. 34,4% was unsure of their HIV status and this percentage decreased between 2008-2014. Between 2008-2014, rates of people uninterested in meeting sex partners online decreased from 22,4% to 13,9%. Overall, 26,2% was tested in the last six months, 45,5% received vaccination against hepatitis B and 78,9% indicated to almost always or always use condoms during anal sex with casual partners. Those unsure of their HIV status were least frequently vaccinated (32,1%). Highest vaccination rates were seen among HIV-positive respondents (72,8% and increased over time, from 70,2% in 2008 to 78,8% in 2014. | ||||
| Discussion: Massive amounts of data were collected by the databases of Mantotman.nl and proved to be useful for monitoring behavior. Additional analyses will be necessary to make full use of the data and to indicate in which changes have taken place in specific subgroups of users. Correlation analyses will be useful to indicate environmental effects, including changes in testing and vaccination policies or outreach testing strategies conducted at sex locations. Triangulation with other data will be necessary to validate these results before they can inform sexual health policies and practices in the Netherlands. | ||||
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