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Background: Over a fifth of all new HIV infections in the United States occur among persons aged 13 24 years, with most of these diagnoses occurring among gay and bisexual males (81%). While the epidemic of HIV in the United States has leveled off for many age groups, the annual number of new HIV diagnoses among young men who have sex with men (YMSM; 13-24 years old) remains high. Traditional approaches to continuum improvement for youth have been insufficient, and targeted interventions are urgently needed for young people at risk for or infected with HIV. Interventions delivered through mobile health technology represent a promising approach for improving outcomes in this population. Mobile phones have nearly reached saturation among youth, making mobile technology a particularly promising tool for reaching this population. Objective: The University of North Carolina/Emory Center for Innovative Technology (iTech) is a National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement as part of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions. iTech aims to impact the HIV epidemic by conducting innovative, interdisciplinary research on technology-based interventions across the HIV prevention and care continuum for adolescents and young adults in the United States, particularly YMSM, by providing the following: (1) evaluation of novel approaches to identifying youth with undiagnosed HIV infections; (2) evaluation of multilevel, combination prevention approaches, particularly relevant to gender- and sexual-minority youth facing co- occurring health risks; (3) evaluation of uptake of and adherence to biomedical prevention modalities; and 4) evaluation of interventions designed to promote or optimize engagement in care and antiretroviral therapy adherence in HIV-positive youth, to optimize viral load suppression. Methods: iTech brings together multidisciplinary experts in the fields of adolescent HIV treatment and prevention, development and evaluation of technology-based interventions, HIV surveillance and epidemiology, and intervention design and evaluation. This initiative will support 8 efficacy trials and 2 exploratory projects, each led by 2 principal investigators. Taken together, the studies address all of the key steps of the HIV prevention and care continuum for youth in the United States. Each proposal uses technology in a scientifically rigorous and innovative way to access, engage, and impact at-risk or infected youth. Nine iTech subject recruitment venues are spread across 8 US cities. Three cores (management, analytic, and technology) support all iTech activities and form the research network's infrastructure, facilitating all aspects of study implementation and evaluation. Results: Formative work has already begun on many of the above-mentioned iTech trials. We expect the first randomized controlled trials to begin in mid-2018. Additional details can be found in the individual intervention protocol papers in this issue. Conclusions: Through its comprehensive research portfolio, iTech aims to effectively advance HIV prevention and care for youth through technology-based, youth-relevant interventions that maximize adaptability and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Men's Internet Survey (AMIS) is an annual Web-based behavioral survey of men who have sex with men (MSM) living in the United States. This Rapid Surveillance Report describes the third cycle of data collection (September 2015 through April 2016; AMIS-2015). The key indicators are the same as previously reported for AMIS (December 2013-May 2014, AMIS-2013; November 2014-April 2015, AMIS-2014). The AMIS survey methodology has not substantively changed since AMIS-2014. MSM were recruited from a variety of websites using banner advertisements and email blasts. Additionally, participants from AMIS-2014 who agreed to be recontacted for future research were emailed a link to the AMIS-2015 survey. Men were eligible to participate if they were age 15 years and older, resided in the United States, provided a valid US ZIP code, and reported ever having sex with a man. We examined demographic and recruitment characteristics using multivariable regression modeling (P<.05) stratified by participants' self-reported human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. The AMIS-2015 round of data collection resulted in 10,217 completed surveys from MSM representing every US state and Puerto Rico. Participants were mainly non-Hispanic white, older than 40 years, living in the US South, living in urban areas, and recruited from general social networking websites. Self-reported HIV prevalence was 9.35% (955/10,217). Compared to HIV-negative/unknown status participants, HIV-positive participants were more likely to have had anal sex without a condom with any male partner in the past 12 months (75.50%, 721/955 vs 63.09%, 5843/9262, P<.001) and more likely to have had anal sex without a condom with a serodiscordant or unknown status partner (34.45%, 329/955 vs 17.07%, 1581/9262, P<.001). The reported use of marijuana and other illicit substances in the past 12 months was higher among HIV-positive participants than HIV-negative/unknown status participants (marijuana use: 24.61%, 235/955 vs 22.96%, 2127/9262; other illicit substance use: 28.59%, 273/955 vs 17.51%, 1622/9262, respectively; both P<.001). Most HIV-negative/unknown status participants (79.11%, 7327/9262) reported ever having a previous HIV test, and 55.69% (5158/9262) reported HIV testing in the past 12 months. HIV-positive participants were more likely to report sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and diagnosis compared to HIV-negative/unknown status participants (STI testing: 71.73%, 685/955 vs 38.52%, 3568/9262; STI diagnosis: 25.65%, 245/955 vs 8.12%, 752/9262, respectively; both P<.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and there is evidence that this population is participating in increasingly risky sexual behavior. These changes are occurring in the context of new modes of online social interaction--many MSM now report first meeting their sex partners on the Internet. Better monitoring of key behavioral indicators among MSM requires the use of surveillance strategies that capitalize on these new modes of interaction. Therefore, we developed an annual cross-sectional behavioral survey of MSM in the United States, the American Men's Internet Survey (AMIS). Objective: The purpose of this paper was to provide a description of AMIS methods. In addition we report on the first cycle of data collection (December 2013 through May 2014; AMIS-2013) on the same key indicators used for national HIV behavioral surveillance. Methods: AMIS-2013 recruited MSM from a variety of websites using banner advertisements or email blasts. Adult men currently residing in the United States were eligible to participate if they had ever had sex with a man. We examined demographic and recruitment characteristics using multivariable regression modeling (P<.05) stratified by the participants' self-reported HIV status. Results: In the AMIS-2013 round, 79,635 persons landed on the study page and 14,899 were eligible, resulting in 10,377 completed surveys from MSM representing every US state. Participants were mainly white, 40 years or older, living in the US South, living in urban areas, and recruited from a general social networking website. Self-reported HIV prevalence was 10.73% (n=1113). Compared to HIV-negative/unknown status participants, HIV-positive participants were more likely to have had anal sex without a condom with any male partner in the past 12 months (72.24% versus 61.24%, respectively; P<.001) and more likely to have had anal sex without a condom with their last male sex partner who was discordant/unknown HIV status (42.95% versus 13.62%, respectively; P<.001). Illicit substance use in the past 12 months was more likely to be reported by HIV-positive participants than HIV-negative/unknown status participants (39.17% versus 26.85%, respectively; P<.001). The vast majority of HIV-negative/unknown status participants (84.05%) had been previously HIV tested, but less than half (44.20%) had been tested in the past 12 months. Participants 18-24 years of age were more likely than those 40 years or older to have had anal sex without a condom with a discordant/unknown HIV status partner, were more likely to report substance use, and were less likely to have been HIV tested. Compared to general social networking, those from a geospatial social networking website were more likely to have reported all risk behaviors but were more likely to have been HIV tested. Conclusions: The first round of AMIS generated useful behavioral measures from more than 10,000 MSM Internet users. Preliminary findings identified some subgroups of MSM Internet users that are at potentially higher risk of HIV acquisition/transmission. AMIS will provide an ongoing data source for examining trends in sexual risk behavior of MSM. This will help to plan and monitor the impact of programs to improve this population's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]