Technology-Delivered Intervention Strategies to Bolster HIV Testing

Romero, Romina A.; Klausner, Jeffrey D.; Marsch, Lisa A.; Young, Sean D.

ABSTRACT: Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, there have been more than 75 million cases. Currently, there about 1.2 million living with HIV in the USA. Despite current testing recommendations, test rates continue to be suboptimal. Investigators have studied the use of digital technology to promote HIV testing, especially among high-risk populations. PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This non-systematic review provides an overview of the scientific research between 2015 and 2020 focused on the use of digital technology to bolster HIV testing and suggests novel technologies for exploration. RECENT FINDINGS: A total of 40 studies were included in the review that span a wide range of available technology. Studies effectively increased HIV testing among study participants. Generally, participants in the intervention/exposure groups had significantly higher rates of HIV test uptake compared to participants in the comparison groups at study follow-up. SUMMARY: For a variety of reasons (e.g., differences in ways the technologies were used and study design), no digital tool clearly performed better than others, but each have the capacity to increase outreach and self-testing. An exploration of the potential use of nascent technologies is also discussed, as well as the authors’ experiences using a number of these technologies in our research.