Abstract Background We created My Personal Health Guide, a relational agent–based mobile health app to improve antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among young African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM), a priority population for developing treatment-as-prevention interventions. We assessed the efficacy of My Personal Health Guide on improving ART adherence among young AAMSM with HIV over 6 months. Methods We implemented a randomized controlled trial among young AAMSM (18–34 years) with nonoptimal ART adherence throughout the United States. Participants were randomized to My Personal Health Guide or a control arm. ART adherence was assessed with Wilson's 3-item self-reported adherence measurement and dichotomized at ≥80%. Generalized estimating equations were employed to evaluate the effect of My Personal Health Guide over time, with P .05 considered statistically significant. Results A significant group effect (P = .014) indicated that those randomized to My Personal Health Guide were 1.54 times (95% CI, 1.25–12.50) more likely to achieve ≥80% adherence throughout the study duration, after adjusting for HIV treatment adherence self-efficacy, Hispanic ethnicity, unemployment, residing in the South, and serious substance use. Conclusions This randomized controlled trial demonstrated statistically significant efficacy of the My Personal Health Guide app in improving ART adherence among young AAMSM. As hypothesized, a 10% effect for improved ART adherence was observed at 6-month follow-up among those randomized to the My Personal Health Guide app. These findings provide evidence of efficacy out to 6 months of My Personal Health Guide use to improve ART adherence among young AAMSM.
Dworkin et al. (Sat,) studied this question.