iPhone apps for STI/HIV prevention

STDiQ – When Public Health goes Hollywood

Note: The terms STD and STI are used interchangeably. They both refer to sexually transmitted infections, a term more commonly used in Australia.

…with its tagline “Be informed, be safe” is an iPhone app designed to bring sexual health education and information to the palm of your hand. STD IQ provides a personal STD risk checker, information on all STDs, and a 23 minute video that has been proven via randomized control trials in 3 clinics to be effective in reducing STI incidence in patients. Results from the control trial showed that the reduction in incidence was close to 10% compared to those not exposed to the video.

The video, called “Safe in the City”, is produced by a multi disciplinary team of CDC’s division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, behavioural researchers, STD clinic directors, a film maker (Mile End Films) and rigorous consultations with target group input throughout its development process. When you hit open the app you will see an important message below the header: “Sexually transmitted diseases afflict millions of people every year. Get informed and learn how to stay safe and protect your health”. A logo of the Denver Health clinic is neatly posted on the bottom of the page with note attached (i).

When you click it (i) you will see  a disclaimer,  here known as “Legal Notice”. It says :“STDiQ is a service of Denver Health. The content herein is for general information purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. For specific information or professional medical advice please consult your physician”. Disclaimers are an essential part of social media based interventions.

Risk Checker

This risk checker function is  clever. It is made up of 6 questions where you are required to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Each question that you answer, gives you an explanation of the impact of the particular risk behavior.  It takes into consideration if you have previously tested positive for a STD and if you  are under 25 years of age, which puts you in a higher risk category.

The Risk Checker’s design in my opinion is effective in showing a young person or adult who has little or no knowledge of what behaviours are high risk in terms of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection.

More important than knowing where approximately you’re at in terms of risky behaviors is  to know where to get tested. Once you’ve read the results of your STD risk you can click on the STD testing sites tab and look for the nearest testing site by keying in a Zip code and indicating a search radius of up to 35 miles (service available only in the US).

STD info

The STD info tab takes you to a factsheet of bacterial, viral and protozoan infections. The information answers in simple language e.g. what Chlamydia or Genital Herpes is and providing more information on signs/symptoms, complications, methods of diagnoses, treatment and methods of prevention. If more information is required, you are refered to the CDC website on sexually transmitted diseases.

“Safe in the City”

This is a video intervention made up of 3 short stories in ‘soap opera’ style in addition to 2 informative animations on how to use a condom and what types of condoms are out there. I think the producers (Jess Moss, Amy Goodman) and director (Jess Moss) did a fantastic job at casting, drawing out the reality of the issue on film, and more importantly making the videos relevant to everyone (from an urban setting). The video covered what is  ‘respectful relationships’, how to negotiate condom use and made it very clear that getting infected with a STI is not just another curable infection – the real danger here is getting HIV! It used behavioural research theories from the start to the end, every sentence was worth a million public health posters and not a second was wasted. Except for one scene, where this guy had to drop his pants in the consulting room (getting and STI test) and the overhead lights came on as though the doctor was gonna operate.