Effectiveness of a Digital Awareness App in HIV/AIDS Mitigation Among Transgender Individuals in Rawalpindi District: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study

TL;DR

This study aims to test a mobile app designed to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and reduce stigma among transgender individuals in Rawalpindi.

Contribution

A novel mobile-based HIV awareness app tailored for transgender individuals, with a quasi-experimental evaluation design.

Findings

The app's acceptability and usability will be assessed through pre- and post-intervention evaluations.

Results will provide evidence on the effectiveness of digital interventions for HIV/AIDS mitigation in vulnerable populations.

Abstract

HIV/AIDS is a disease associated with stigma and discrimination. This can hinder the adoption of preventive and treatment methods, especially in vulnerable populations, such as the transgender community.

The primary objectives of this study are to explore awareness barriers related to HIV/AIDS, develop and pilot a mobile-based HIV awareness app, and evaluate its acceptability and usability within the transgender community.

The research will employ a quasi-experimental design, utilizing a pre- and posttest comparison between an intervention group that will use the mobile app and a comparison group that will not. Phase 1 involves a situational analysis, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and a cross-sectional survey. An app will be designed and developed in Phase 2. Phase 3 will comprise a preintervention assessment recruiting 150 transgender people, implementation of the app on the cell phones of 75 transgender people, and a postapp assessment. Statistical techniques will be employed to analyze the captured data and assess the effectiveness of the app.

The recruitment began on August 25, 2025, for the first phase, with the subsequent phases to follow. The data collection and analysis will be completed and finalized by August 31, 2026, following the intervention deployment. No funding was received from any external source for this study.

The results of this study will reveal the effectiveness of a mobile app for the transgender community. These results will determine the continuation and further scale-up of this intervention. The findings will create evidence to inform favorable strategies for vulnerable populations.

DERR1-10.2196/84610

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