The Impact of a Mobile Gaming Intervention to Increase Adherence to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis

Whiteley, Laura; Craker, Lacey; Haubrick, Kayla K; Arnold, Trisha; Mena, Leandro; Olsen, Elizabeth; Brown, Larry K.

doi:10.1007/s10461-020-03118-3

Cited by 15 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Viral Combat [ 37 ] was developed by the same team that created BattleViro . However, instead of targeting people already with HIV, this game attempts to promote PrEP adherence.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, there were those that were based in an educational institution (high school or university), included people of all genders and sexual orientations, and focused on contraception and STIs [ 27 - 29 , 41 , 42 ]. The second group was most commonly recruited from youth centers or sexual health clinics, focused exclusively on MSM, and had a clear focus on STI prevention and management [ 30 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As might be expected, when mobile phones became widespread, the idea of using smartphones as platforms for serious gaming became an option. Of the 4 reviewed games for mobile phones, 2 (50%) were exclusively developed for the iPhone [ 35 , 37 ], whereas the other 2 (50%) did not specify which operating system they worked with [ 38 , 42 ]. These later games used mobile connectivity to increase participant engagement through push notifications and messages [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, a too-challenging game can tire a proportion of the players out of the intervention. In an effort to resolve these 2 positions, some game developers opted for an increasing level of difficulty; that is, instead of having a flat, low-level difficulty throughout the experience or a series of extreme spikes every so often, these games ramp up the difficulty with every level [ 35 , 37 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, the role of complementary activities in each game should be mentioned. Minigames are found in several games, particularly in the form of quizzes [ 29 , 34 , 36 , 37 ]. This seems to have been one of the main strategies through which game developers delivered specific sexual health knowledge.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Video Games to Improve the Sexual Health of Young People Aged 15 to 25 Years: Rapid Review

Vega¹,

Eleftheriou²,

Graham³

2022

JMIR Serious Games

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Background Sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies among young people remain public health concerns in many countries. To date, interventions that address these concerns have had limited success. Serious games are increasingly being used as educational tools in health and professional public education. Although acknowledged as having great potential, few studies have evaluated the use of serious games in sexual health education among young people, and to date, there have been no published reviews of these studies. Objective This study aims to assess the effects of video game–based sexual health interventions for risky sexual behavior in young people aged between 15 and 25 years. Methods A rapid review of randomized controlled trials and quasi–randomized controlled trials was performed. The search included the following bibliographic databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus. A total of 2 reviewers independently screened 50% (35/70) of the retrieved articles during the full-text screening phase. Results From a total of 459 identified citations, after removing duplicates, 327 (71.2%) articles were deemed eligible for title and abstract screening. Of the 327 articles, 70 (21.4%) full texts were screened, from which 10 (3.1%) articles (evaluating 11 different games) were included in the review. The findings highlighted the considerable diversity in video game–based interventions and assessed sexual health outcomes. Although there were some promising findings in outcome studies using game-based interventions, the results across studies were mixed. Conclusions Although game interventions for sexual health have been in existence for almost three decades, relatively few studies have evaluated them, and the results of previous outcome studies have been mixed. Moreover, there is little clarity regarding which specific elements of a game facilitate positive outcomes. We provide recommendations for future researchers developing video game–based interventions to improve sexual health in young people.

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“…Viral Combat [ 37 ] was developed by the same team that created BattleViro . However, instead of targeting people already with HIV, this game attempts to promote PrEP adherence.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%