STD and HIV are major public health crisis in the United State. Study shows that about 1.1 million of American are living with HIV and 110 million cases of STD. Incidence rate of HIV and STD are 56,000 and 20 million respectively. 1 in 5 HIV patients are unaware of their HIV status. Smartphone applications are increasingly used for sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV treatment, although little focus has been on STD and HIV prevention.
Purpose
The purpose of this review is to synthesize and evaluate existing literature on using smartphone/mobile devices to prevent STD and HIV in order to ultimately decrease STD and HIV risk factors.
Search Strategy
The CINAHL, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and PubMED databases were utilized to attain articles. Keywords included mobile phone, mobile applications, HIV, STD, application, APP, and Smartphone. Selection criteria included: information on HIV/STD disease, information on risk reduction/ safer sex, condom promotion, HIV/STD testing information. Limits included English language, publication within the last 15 years, and academic journals.
Results
The search resulted in 14 total studies that met the inclusion criteria. Studies were published between 2000 and 2015. Level of evidence was assessed by Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt’s evaluation guidelines. The level of evidence ranged from two to seven including randomized controlled design, literature review, correlative study, descriptive study, and expert opinions.
Synthesis of Evidence
Review of evidences shows that smartphone or mobile phone applications on HIV/STD prevention are successful to attract user attention and positive reviews. Studies suggested introduction of evidenced based interventions for HIV/STD prevention through smartphone or mobile phone applications are successful tools to reduce HIV/STD risk factors; however, there is limited evidence for usability and effectiveness of cultural sensitive applications to be used with different populations. Also, several researchers suggested that future research should consider evaluating interventions with similar approaches for STD/HIV prevention.
Implications for Practice
Smartphone applications can help researchers engage with people all over the world. According to the most current evidence-based literature, delivery of STD/HIV prevention information through smartphone or mobile phone application would significantly decrease STD/HIV risks. Researchers can work with app developers to design a comprehensive, culture sensitive smartphone application on STD/HIV prevention.
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