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Project SMART: Preliminary Results From a Test of the Efficacy of a Swedish Internet-Based HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention for Men Who Have Sex With Men

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Abstract

In Sweden, 57 % of HIV transmission occurs among MSM, and other sexually transmitted infections are increasing, supporting the need for innovative interventions. The Internet is a potentially useful HIV-prevention platform, but there is a lack of such programs in Sweden. The purpose of this exploratory study was to test the efficacy of the Internet-based SMART intervention to decrease HIV sexual risks in Swedish MSM. The intervention was adapted from the Wyoming Rural AIDS Prevention Project to the Swedish context, which was guided by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral (IMB) skills model and consisted of six sessions. A total of 112 men responded to a pretest questionnaire and were randomly assigned to the SMART intervention or to a waitlist group. Fifty-four men dropped out, leaving a final sample of 58 participants. Twenty-five were assigned to the SMART intervention and 33 to a waitlist group. One month post intervention, the number of casual anal sex partners significantly decreased (t = 2.19, p = .04). Compared with the waitlist group, men in the intervention group increased their HIV knowledge (β = 0.70, p = .01), their belief of condom use as an act of responsibility (β = 1.19, p = .04), their willingness to use a condom with every new partner all the time (β = 1.39, p = .03), and their confidence in using condoms in challenging situations (β = 1.65, p = .02). Condom use was not analyzed due to the small sample size. Despite the small sample, high drop-out, and short follow-up, the study provides support for the efficacy of the Internet interventions, the SMART intervention specifically, for reducing the proportion of casual anal sex partners and improving the three cognitive components of the IMB model for Swedish MSM.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are especially appreciative of the men who participated in the study, and thankful for their contribution to this article. This research was supported by a grant from the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, a unit of HIV infection and Sexual Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institute, Södersjukhuset AB, 118 83, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lena Nilsson Schonnesson

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Anne M. Bowen

  3. Health Policy and Management, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Mark L. Williams

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  1. Lena Nilsson Schonnesson
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  2. Anne M. Bowen
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  3. Mark L. Williams
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Correspondence to Lena Nilsson Schonnesson.

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Schonnesson, L.N., Bowen, A.M. & Williams, M.L. Project SMART: Preliminary Results From a Test of the Efficacy of a Swedish Internet-Based HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention for Men Who Have Sex With Men. Arch Sex Behav 45, 1501–1511 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0608-z

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