Comparing Web-Based Venues to Recruit Gay, Bisexual, and Other Cisgender Men Who Have Sex With Men to a Large HIV Prevention Service in Brazil: Evaluation Study

• Published in: JMIR formative research 2022-08, Vol.6 (8), p.e33309-e33309
• Main Authors: Bezerra, Daniel Rodrigues Barros, Jalil, Cristina Moreira, Jalil, Emilia Moreira, Coelho, Lara Esteves, Netto, Eduardo Carvalheira, Freitas, Josias, Monteiro, Laylla, Santos, Toni, Souza, Cleo, Hoagland, Brenda, Veloso, Valdilea Gonçalves, Grinsztejn, Beatriz, Cardoso, Sandra Wagner, Torres, Thiago Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advertising campaigns; Cellular telephones; Cisgender; COVID-19; Disease prevention; Gays & lesbians; HIV; Human Development Index; Human immunodeficiency virus; Internet access; Medical tests; Mens health; Original Paper; Social networks
• ISSN: 2561-326X; 2561-326X
• DOI: 10.2196/33309

Background: Internet and mobile phones, widely available in Brazil, could be used to disseminate information about HIV prevention and to recruit gay, bisexual, and other cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) to HIV prevention services. Data evaluating the characteristics of MSM recruited through different web-based strategies and estimating their cost and yield in the country are not available. Objective: We aimed to describe a web-based recruitment cascade, compare the characteristics of MSM recruited to a large HIV prevention service in Rio de Janeiro according to web-based venues, and estimate the cost per participant for each strategy. Methods: We promoted advertisements on geosocial networking (GSN) apps (Hornet and Grindr) and social media (Facebook and Instagram) from March 2018 to October 2019. The advertisements invited viewers to contact a peer educator to schedule a visit at the HIV prevention service. Performance of web-based recruitment cascade was based on how many MSM (1) were reached by the advertisement, (2) contacted the peer educator, and (3) attended the service. We used chi-square tests to compare MSM recruited through GSN apps and social media. The estimated advertisement cost to recruit a participant was calculated by dividing total advertisement costs by number of participants who attended the service or initiated preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Results: Advertisement reached 1,477,344 individuals; 1270 MSM contacted the peer educator (86 contacts per 100,000 views)—564 (44.4%), 401 (31.6%) and 305 (24.0%)—through social media, Grindr, and Hornet. Among the 1270 individuals who contacted the peer educator, 36.3% (n=461) attended the service with similar proportion for each web-based strategy (social media: 203/564, 36.0%; Grindr: 152/401, 37.9%; and Hornet: 107/305, 35.1%). MSM recruited through GSN apps were older (mean age 30 years vs 26 years; P