Black women’s preferences regarding use of mHealth for sexual health support in Chicago, a cross-sectional study

TL;DR

A study in Chicago found that most Black women are interested in using mobile apps for sexual health support, suggesting potential for reducing STI/HIV transmission through tailored mHealth tools.

Contribution

This study is one of the first to explore mHealth app preferences specifically among Black women, a population disproportionately affected by STIs and HIV.

Findings

The majority of Black women surveyed expressed interest in using mHealth for sexual health care.

Participants aged 25 and older were significantly more likely to value short videos as a feature in an mHealth app.

Interest in mHealth apps was high regardless of HIV vulnerability or age group.

Abstract

Black women are disproportionally likely to contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV compared to women of other races and ethnicities. It is possible that mobile health (referred to as “mHealth”) strategies, including mobile applications, designed for Black women could provide sexual health support and reduce STI/HIV transmission. We sought to explore acceptability of mHealth strategies among Black women and to identify if preferences varied by age or HIV vulnerability. We surveyed 213 Black women aged 14–64 attending a family planning clinic in Chicago. We asked about mHealth use, desired sources of sexual health information, and mHealth application (app) features. Responses were analyzed as dichotomous variables, with age categorized as ≤24 years of age or ≥25 years of age and HIV vulnerability score categorized as low (<2) or high (≥2). HIV vulnerability was determined based on affirmative answers to the following questions: having had condomless sex (either vaginal or anal) in the past three months, having had an abortion in the past 12 months, having received STI treatment in the past three months, and having had ≥ 2 sex partners in the last three months. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR 95% CI) were created using logistic regression models. The majority of participants were interested in using technology as part of their sexual health care (84.5%) and were likely to download an mHealth app (74.7%). Many questions about desirability and interest in app features did not differ by age or HIV vulnerability category. Black women ≥25 years had 7.3 times the odds of rating the inclusion of short videos as an important part of the mHealth app (OR 7.3 95% CI (1.7, 32.4)). Within this population, interest in using a sexual health app was high, suggesting an openness to app development for both sexual health as well as specifically for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Mobile health (“mHealth”) is the use of mobile technology applications (on smartphones, tablet computers, and other devices) to support healthcare and facilitate communication between patients and providers. mHealth applications (“app”) have been developed for some groups vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV including men who have sex with men, but not for Black women. Little research has been done on Black women’s interest in a sexual health focused mHealth application. We surveyed 213 Black adolescent and adult women attending a family planning clinic in Chicago, Illinois. We asked about their sexual health history, if they had previously used an mHealth app, interest in an mHealth app for sexual health, and what features to include in such an app. Most participants had a history of mHealth use (67.6%), were interested in using technology as part of sexual healthcare (84.5%) and were interested in downloading an mHealth app for sexual healthcare (74.7%). Survey results did not differ much when examined by age group or HIV vulnerability. The high interest in using an mHealth app for sexual healthcare in our participants underlines the importance of app development among this key population.

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