{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T01:13:59Z","timestamp":1792804439243,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,15]],"date-time":"2021-01-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1610668800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Knowledge Transfer Project Fund, The Chinese University of Hong Kong","award":["KPF16ICF10"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KPF16ICF10"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00t33hh48","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>HIV self-testing (HIVST) with online real-time counseling (HIVST-online) is an evidence-based intervention to increase HIV testing coverage and to ensure linkage to care for men who have sex with men (MSM). A community-based organization (CBO) recruited 122 MSM who had ever used HIVST-online (ever-users) and another 228 new-users from multiple sources and promoted HIVST-online. A free oral fluid-based HIVST kit was sent to all the participants by mail. Experienced HIVST administrators implemented HIVST-online by providing real-time instruction, standard-of-care pre-test and post-test counseling via live-chat application. The number of HIVST-online sessions performed was documented by the administrators. The post-test evaluation was conducted 6 months after the pre-test survey. At month 6, 63.1% of ever-users and 40.4% of new-users received HIVST-online. Taking other types of HIV testing into account, 79.4% of ever-users and 58.6% of new-users being followed up at month 6 received any HIV testing during the project period. Ever-users were more likely to receive HIVST-online and any HIV testing as compared to new-users. Four HIVST-online users were screened to be HIV positive and linked to the treatment. The process evaluation of HIVST-online was positive. Implementation of HIVST-online was helpful to improve HIV testing coverage and repeated HIV testing among Chinese MSM. A larger scale implementation should be considered.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18020729","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,18]],"date-time":"2021-01-18T05:17:34Z","timestamp":1610947054000},"page":"729","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":49,"title":["Effectiveness of a Novel HIV Self-Testing Service with Online Real-Time Counseling Support (HIVST-Online) in Increasing HIV Testing Rate and Repeated HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Hong Kong: Results of a Pilot Implementation Project"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Paul Shing-fong","family":"Chan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew","family":"Chidgey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AIDS Concern, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jason","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AIDS Concern, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary","family":"Ip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2344-7107","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph T.F.","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zixin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1093\/epirev\/mxq011","article-title":"The expanding epidemics of HIV type 1 among men who have sex with men in low- and middle-income countries: Diversity and consistency","volume":"32","author":"Beyrer","year":"2010","journal-title":"Epidemiol. 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