TY - JOUR
T1 - Acceptability of smartphone applications for global positioning system (GPS) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research among sexual minority men
AU - Duncan, Dustin T.
AU - Park, Su Hyun
AU - Goedel, William C.
AU - Sheehan, Diana M.
AU - Regan, Seann D.
AU - Chaix, Basile
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Duncan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Background Emerging research is using global positioning system (GPS) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods among sexual minority men (SMM), a population that experiences multiple health disparities. However, we are not aware of any research that has combined these approaches among SMM, highlighting the need for acceptability and feasibility research. The purpose of this study was to examine the acceptability of implementing GPS and EMA research protocols using smartphone applications among SMM as well as related socio-demographic correlates. Methods Data come from a sample of SMM on a popular geosocial-networking app in Paris, France (n = 580). We assessed the acceptability of implementing GPS and EMA research protocols on smartphone apps as well as socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sexual orientation, country of origin, employment status, and relationship status). We examined the anticipated acceptability of GPS and EMA data collection methods as well as socio-demographic correlates of acceptability of GPS and EMA methods. Results We found that over half (54.1%) of the sample was willing to download a smartphone app for GPS-based research and we found that almost 60% of the participants were willing to download a smartphone app for EMA-based research. In total, 44.0% reported that they were willing to download both GPS and EMA apps. In addition, we found that older participants were less willing to download a smartphone app for EMA research than younger participants aged 18–24 (40–49 years: aPR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.20, 0.78) and students were more willing to download smartphone apps for both GPS and EMA research (aPR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.95). Conclusion Results from this study suggest that using smartphone apps to implement GPS and EMA methods among some SMM are acceptable. However, care should be taken as segments of SMM are less likely to be willing to engage in this type of research.
AB - Background Emerging research is using global positioning system (GPS) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods among sexual minority men (SMM), a population that experiences multiple health disparities. However, we are not aware of any research that has combined these approaches among SMM, highlighting the need for acceptability and feasibility research. The purpose of this study was to examine the acceptability of implementing GPS and EMA research protocols using smartphone applications among SMM as well as related socio-demographic correlates. Methods Data come from a sample of SMM on a popular geosocial-networking app in Paris, France (n = 580). We assessed the acceptability of implementing GPS and EMA research protocols on smartphone apps as well as socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sexual orientation, country of origin, employment status, and relationship status). We examined the anticipated acceptability of GPS and EMA data collection methods as well as socio-demographic correlates of acceptability of GPS and EMA methods. Results We found that over half (54.1%) of the sample was willing to download a smartphone app for GPS-based research and we found that almost 60% of the participants were willing to download a smartphone app for EMA-based research. In total, 44.0% reported that they were willing to download both GPS and EMA apps. In addition, we found that older participants were less willing to download a smartphone app for EMA research than younger participants aged 18–24 (40–49 years: aPR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.20, 0.78) and students were more willing to download smartphone apps for both GPS and EMA research (aPR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.95). Conclusion Results from this study suggest that using smartphone apps to implement GPS and EMA methods among some SMM are acceptable. However, care should be taken as segments of SMM are less likely to be willing to engage in this type of research.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210240
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0210240
M3 - Article
C2 - 30689651
AN - SCOPUS:85060575747
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 1
M1 - e0210240
ER -