NCT05728034

Brief Summary

The goal of these two intervention studies is to test promising health communication messaging strategies most likely to enhance Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White YMSM's (young men who have sex with men's) engagement with online content about injectable and oral PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). Participants will be asked to browse a mock Google results page featuring various kinds of PrEP information, and their browsing behavior will be unobtrusively logged. In Study 1, participants will be randomly assigned to browse for information about oral PrEP or browse for information about injectable PrEP. The design of Study 2 will be identical to Study 1 but will focus only on injectable PrEP content. In addition to browsing behavior, visual behavior data will also be collected in Study 2 with eye-trackers.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
314

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started May 2023

Typical duration for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

February 3, 2023

Completed
11 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

February 14, 2023

Completed
4 months until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

May 30, 2023

Completed
2.2 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

August 18, 2025

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

August 18, 2025

Completed
Last Updated

February 9, 2026

Status Verified

February 1, 2026

Enrollment Period

2.2 years

First QC Date

February 3, 2023

Last Update Submit

February 5, 2026

Conditions

Pre-exposure Prophylaxis

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

  • Browsing behavior - First click

    SoSciSurvey software will unobtrusively log the clicks participants will make on the different search results, with each search result reflecting a different messaging strategy (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information). Our analysis will focus on which search result/messaging strategy participants click on first as a behavioral indicator of message engagement.

    Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)

  • Browsing behavior - Total page duration

    SoSciSurvey software will unobtrusively log the amount of time (in seconds) participants spend on the different search results after clicking on it, with each search result reflecting a different messaging strategy (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information). Our analysis will focus on the total amount of time participants spend on the page for each of the different search results/messaging strategies as a behavioral indicator of message engagement.

    Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)

  • Visual behavior - Total fixation duration (Study 2 only)

    Total fixation duration can be defined as how long the eyes dwell on a particular object in one's field of vision. Total fixation duration will be recorded by mobile eye-trackers.

    Recorded while participants complete the Google results browsing task (3 minutes max)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

  • Change in intention to adopt PrEP

    Will be measured immediately after completing the browsing task

  • Open-ended responses

    Will be measured immediately after completing the browsing task

Study Arms (2)

Injectable PrEP information

EXPERIMENTAL

A mock Google search results page with five search results that reflect five messaging strategies about injectable PrEP (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information), displayed in random order.

Behavioral: Injectable PrEP information

Oral PrEP information (Study 1 only)

EXPERIMENTAL

A mock Google search results page with five search results that reflect five messaging strategies about oral PrEP (response efficacy, social norms, exemplar, celebrity, and basic information), displayed in random order.

Behavioral: Oral PrEP information

Interventions

Injectable PrEP informationBEHAVIORAL

Participants will be able to click on the links on the search results page (which reflect the five messaging strategies about injectable PrEP), visit those pages, and return to the main results page.

Injectable PrEP information
Oral PrEP informationBEHAVIORAL

Participants will be able to click on the links on the search results page (which reflect the five messaging strategies about oral PrEP), visit those pages, and return to the main results page.

Oral PrEP information (Study 1 only)

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 34 Years
Sexmale(Gender-based eligibility)
Gender Eligibility DetailsThe focus of this grant is to understand PrEP-related information seeking among young-adult men who have sex with men (YMSM). The researchers will not recruit cisgender women (that is, women who were assigned female at birth) or transgender women (women who were assigned male at birth).
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

  • Have an Internet-connectable device (Study 1 only)
  • Be 18-34 years of age
  • Identify as cisgender male
  • Identify as gay or bisexual
  • Be HIV negative
  • Have had anal sex in the past 6 months
  • Meet one of the following criteria: a. Have a sexual partner with HIV, b. Have inconsistent condom use, c. Have received an STI diagnosis in the last 6 months.

You may not qualify if:

  • Does not meet all of the criteria above

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Pennsylvania State University

University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, United States

Location

Study Officials

  • Christofer J Skurka, PhD

    Penn State University

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
PREVENTION
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

February 3, 2023

First Posted

February 14, 2023

Study Start

May 30, 2023

Primary Completion

August 18, 2025

Study Completion

August 18, 2025

Last Updated

February 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

The researchers will make all data, analysis syntax, and materials (e.g., stimuli, survey measures) publicly available in accordance with NIH data sharing policies as well as Penn State University's IRB guidelines. Quantitative data will be made available in a non-proprietary file format (e.g., CSV). The researchers will strip all data of any personally identifying information before sharing our data. All the collected data will be actively managed, redundantly archived, and ultimately shared with the broader scientific community by the Data Commons online repository. The Penn State Data Commons is a service administered by Penn State University that provides maintenance and open access sharing of research project data during and after the period of support for the project. The Data Commons was developed with the intent of helping researchers comply with grant-funding agency requirements. It supports dissemination and long-term preservation (management, use, and re-use) of data.

Locations

US(1)