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Fajardo, Emmanuel, Watson, Victoria, Kumwenda, Moses, Usharidze, Dali, Gogochashvili, Sophiko, Kakhaberi, David, Giguashvili, Ana, Johnson, Cheryl C., Jamil, Muhammad S., Dacombe, Russell 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6705-1537, Stvilia, Ketevan, Easterbrook, Philippa and Ivanova Reipold, Elena
(2022)
'Usability and acceptability of oral-based HCV self-testing among key populations: a mixed-methods evaluation in Tbilisi, Georgia'. BMC Infectious Diseases, Vol 22, Issue 1, p. 510.
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Abstract
Background: Hepatitis C virus self-testing (HCVST) is an additional approach that may expand access to HCV testing. We conducted a mixed-methods cross-sectional observational study to assess the usability and acceptability of HCVST among people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender (TG) people in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Methods: The study was conducted from December 2019 to June 2020 among PWID at one harm reduction site and among MSM/TG at one community-based organization. We used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Usability was assessed by observing errors made and difficulties faced by participants. Acceptability was assessed using an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. A subset of participants participated in cognitive and in-depth interviews.
Results: A total of 90 PWID, 84 MSM and 6 TG were observed performing HCVST. PWID were older (median age 35 vs 24) and had a lower level of education compared to MSM/TG (27% vs 59%). The proportion of participants who completed all steps successfully without assistance was 60% among PWID and 80% among MSM/TG. The most common error was in sample collection and this was observed more often among PWID than MSM/TG (21% vs 6%; p = 0.002). More PWID requested assistance during HCVST compared to MSM/TG (22% vs 8%; p = 0.011). Acceptability was high in both groups (98% vs 96%; p = 0.407). Inter-reader agreement was 97% among PWID and 99% among MSM/TG. Qualitative data from cognitive (n = 20) and in-depth interviews (n = 20) was consistent with the quantitative data confirming a high usability and acceptability.
Conclusions: HCVST was highly acceptable among key populations in Georgia of relatively high educational level, and most participants performed HCVST correctly. A significant difference in usability was observed among PWID compared to MSM/TG, indicating that PWID may benefit from improved messaging and education as well as options to receive direct assistance when self-testing for HCV.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | QY Clinical Pathology > Diagnostic Tests > QY 125 Saliva WC Communicable Diseases > WC 20 Research (General) WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. Other Virus Diseases > WC 536 Human viral hepatitis |
| Faculty: Department: | Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department |
| Digital Object Identifer (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-022-07484-2 |
| SWORD Depositor: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Depositing User: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jun 2022 14:45 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Jun 2022 14:45 |
| URI: | https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/20514 |
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