Acceptability and Feasibility of Peer-to-Peer Text Messaging Among Adolescents to Increase Clinic Visits and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Interrupted Times-Series Analysis

Lightfoot, Marguerita; Jackson-Morgan, Joi; Pollack, Lance M.; Bennett, Ayanna

doi:10.2196/32416

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…Studies indicate this communication strategy is highly persuasive [ 14 ]. The implementation of the peer-based text messaging strategy showed promise for both increasing the number of youths accessing health services and finding youths engaging in sexual risk behaviors and most in need of sexual health screening and services [ 15 ]. This study will examine the SMS text messages that adolescents and young adults sent in order to explicate the types of messages they believed would be persuasive among their friends.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis

Lightfoot,

Campbell,

Maragh-Bass

et al. 2024

J Med Internet Res

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Background While rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are extremely high among adolescents and young adults in the United States, rates of HIV and STI testing remain low. Given the ubiquity of mobile phones and the saliency of peers for youths, text messaging strategies may successfully promote HIV or STI testing among youths. Objective This study aimed to understand the types of messages youths believe were motivating and persuasive when asked to text friends to encourage them to seek HIV or STI testing services at a neighborhood clinic. Methods We implemented an adolescent peer-based text messaging intervention to encourage clinic attendance and increase STI and HIV testing among youths (n=100) at an adolescent clinic in San Francisco, California. Participants were asked to send a text message to 5 friends they believed were sexually active to encourage their friends to visit the clinic and receive STI or HIV screening. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the content of the text messages sent and received during the clinic visit. Member checking and consensus coding were used to ensure interrater reliability and significance of themes. Results We identified four themes in the messages sent by participants: (1) calls to action to encourage peers to get tested, (2) personalized messages with sender-specific information, (3) clinic information such as location and hours, and (4) self-disclosure of personal clinic experience. We found that nearly all text messages included some combination of 2 or more of these broad themes. We also found that youths were inclined to send messages they created themselves, as opposed to sending the same message to each peer, which they tailored to each individual to whom they were sent. Many (40/100, 40%) received an immediate response to their message, and most participants reported receiving at least 1 positive response, while a few reported that they had received at least 1 negative response. There were some differences in responses depending on the type of message sent. Conclusions Given the high rates of STI and HIV and low rates of testing among adolescents, peer-driven text messaging interventions to encourage accessing care may be successful at reaching this population. This study suggests that youths are willing to text message their friends, and there are clear types of messages they develop and use. Future research should use these methods with a large, more diverse sample of youths and young adults for long-term evaluation of care seeking and care retention outcomes to make progress in reducing HIV and STI among adolescents and young adults.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis

Lightfoot,

Campbell,

Maragh-Bass

et al. 2024

J Med Internet Res

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis (Preprint)

Lightfoot¹,

Campbell²,

Maragh-Bass³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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BACKGROUND To understand the types of messages youth believe were motivating and persuasive when asked to text friends to encourage them to seek HIV/STI testing services at a neighborhood clinic. OBJECTIVE To understand the types of messages youth believe are motivating and persuasive when asked to text friends to encourage them to seek HIV/STI testing services at a neighborhood clinic. METHODS We implemented an adolescent peer-based text messaging intervention to encourage clinic attendance and increase STI and HIV testing among youth (n= 100) at an adolescent clinic in San Francisco, California. Participants were asked to send a text message to five friends they believed were sexually active to encourage their friends to visit the clinic and receive STI/HIV screening. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the content of the text messages sent and received during the clinic visit. Member checking and consensus coding was used to ensure interrater reliability and significance of themes. RESULTS We identified 4 themes in the messages sent by participants: i) calls to action to encourage peers to get tested, ii) personalized messages with sender-specific information, iii) clinic information such as location and hours, and iv) self-disclosure of personal clinic experience. We found that nearly all text messages included some combination of 2 or more of these broad themes. We also found that youth were inclined to send messages they created themselves, as opposed to sending the same message to each peer, which they tailored to each individual to whom they were sent. Many (40%) received an immediate response to their message and most participants reported receiving at least one positive response, while few reported that they had received at least one negative response. There were some differences in responses by the type of message sent. CONCLUSIONS Given the high rates of STI and HIV and low rates of testing among adolescents, peer-driven text messaging interventions to encourage accessing care may be successful at reaching this population. This study suggests that youth are willing to text message their friends and there are clear types of messages they developed and utilized. Future research should employ these methods with a large, more diverse sample of youth and young adults for long-term evaluation of care seeking and care retention outcomes to make progress in reducing HIV/STI among adolescents and young adults.

show abstract

Acceptability and Feasibility of Peer-to-Peer Text Messaging Among Adolescents to Increase Clinic Visits and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Interrupted Times-Series Analysis

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis

What Adolescents Say in Text Messages to Motivate Peer Networks to Access Health Care and Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing: Qualitative Thematic Analysis (Preprint)

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