Educational Effectiveness of an HIV Pretest Video for Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a youth-friendly HIV video with in-person counseling in conveying HIV knowledge and obtaining consent for HIV testing among adolescent patients of an urban emergency department. METHODS: A 2-armed, randomized controlled trial was conducted on a convenience sample of 200 stable, sexually active people aged 15 to 21 years in an urban emergency department. Participants in both the in-person counseling group and the video intervention group completed preintervention and postintervention HIV knowledge measures. HIV knowledge was the primary outcome measure, and consent for HIV testing was the secondary outcome. Characteristics associated with voluntary HIV testing were identified. RESULTS: Of 333 eligible people, 200 agreed to participate. There was no difference in preintervention HIV knowledge scores between groups. Mean postintervention knowledge scores differed significantly between the video (78.5% correct) and the counselor (66.3% correct) (P < 0.01) groups. Overall, 51% of the video group accepted HIV testing compared with 22% in the control group (P < .01). Watching the video (OR: 3.6 [95% CI: 1.8–7.2]), being female (OR: 2.1 [95% CI: 1.0–4.2]), engaging in oral sex (OR: 2.8 [95% CI: 1.4–5.9]), and being older than 18 years (OR: 3.8 [95% CI: 1.8–7.8]) were all positively associated with testing. CONCLUSIONS: A youth-friendly HIV educational video improved adolescents' HIV knowledge and increased their participation in HIV testing more than in-person counseling. video-based HIV counseling can perform as well or better than in-person counseling for adolescents in the ED.

Brief interventions to prevent sexually transmitted infections suitable for in-service use: A systematic review

“…one evaluated an online web-based intervention that provided information in the form of individualized advice in personalized emails (19), one employed one-to-one counselling (14) , one used video (15) and two included home-based STI test kits (13,28). One of these studies was of notably high quality with no risk of bias and both provided information, including information about testing (13).…”

“…Interventions meeting specified inclusion criteria, evaluated among young people (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) years old) or MSM using RCTs were included. The research question addressed was:…”

“…One of five video interventions increased STI test uptake among young people (15). This video was designed to replace one-to-one counselling before an HIV test.…”

“…The World Health Organization report that 498 million people aged 15 (4). A lack of information, motivation, confidence and skills in relation to precautions such as consistent condom use or sexual negotiation may contribute to infection rates (2).…”

“Bringing Testing to the People”: A Discussion of an HIV-Testing Outreach Project Targeting Impoverished Women

“…During the past few years, advances in HIV testing have resulted in the development of new strategies to increase the number of persons getting tested for HIV. These advances include the integration of HIV rapid testing in emergency departments, implementation of computer-assisted HIV rapid testing, and the use of electronic media to introduce HIV rapid testing to adolescents (CDC, 2007;Merchant et al, 2011;Calderon et al, 2011). Emergency departments (EDs) have been one of the leading venues for implementing innovative strategies to increase the uptake, feasibility and cost per outcome in HIV testing (Prabhu et al, 2011;Hutchinson et al, 2011).…”