Culturally Targeted Video Intervention to Increase PrEP Use Intentions Among Latinx Sexual Minority Men: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Latinx sexual minority men experience the greatest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden in the United States. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is the most effective HIV prevention tool available, however, PrEP uptake remains low among this group. Methods: This two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial study aimed to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of delivering an online culturally targeted video intervention that aims to increase PrEP uptake intentions among Latinx sexual minority men. The intervention group received a culturally targeted video that contained the same PrEP information as the control group and incorporated positive aspects of Latinx masculinity (i.e., caballerismo). Participants were recruited through Amazon's MTurk crowd-sourcing platform. A total of twenty-five participants met the study inclusion criteria (N = 25). Results: The control group had a higher mean PrEP intentions score (M: 3.3, 95% CI: 2.7-3.9) when compared with the intervention group. A moderate, negative, linear correlation was observed between machismo and PrEP intention scores (r = -.34). In contrast, a small, positive correlation was found between caballerismo and PrEP intentions (r = .19). Conclusions: While the culturally targeted video intervention did not increase PrEP use intentions, the study highlights the importance of understanding and addressing cultural factors such as Latin masculinity.