Effect of availability of HIV self-testing on HIV testing frequency among men who have sex with men attending university in China (UniTest): protocol of a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial

BackgroundHIV testing plays a central role in the combat against HIV. We aimed to determine if the availability of HIV self-testing (HIVST) would increase the frequency of testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) attending university in China.MethodsA stepped wedge randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 4 provinces in China: Chongqing, Guangdong, Shandong, and Tianjin. Eligibility assessment will include (1) male, aged 16years or older, (2) university student (technical diploma and undergraduate students), (3) MSM (sexual behaviors including mutual masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex), (4) HIV negative, and (5) willing to provide informed consent.Participants will be randomly allocated to HIV self-testing intervention with free HIVST kits in every 30days according to the intervention waiting lists with a computer-generated randomized sequence. All participants will complete a self-administrated online questionnaire onsite at baseline and 12-month follow-up and complete an online questionnaire at 4- and 8-month.The primary outcome is the effect of HIVST on HIV testing frequency. Secondary outcomes include the change in sexual behaviors and HIV incidence.DiscussionNo previous study had measured the effect of social media based HIVST intervention on the change in HIV testing behaviors, sexual behaviors and incident HIV infection among MSM attending university in China. Findings from this study will provide evidence for further interventional practice promotions and prevention strategies scale-up, including HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and sexual partner serosorting.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1900020645. Registered 11 January 2019.