Private Facebook Support Groups for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness among Female Sex Workers in Cameroon

This pilot study design was a group randomized intervention trial with cross-over model. The intervention (Group A) and control (Group B) groups had 40 and 20 participants, respectively. For the study intervention, secret Facebook groups (SFG) were created for participants who were exposed to 12 educational videos about HIV, PrEP, post-exposure prophylaxis, condom use, global sex work information, and work-related stigma, while those in the control group received routine in-person services but had no access to the SFG and the videos. Group A had access to SFG A during the intervention period and Group B had access to SFG B during the cross-over period. Outcomes were measured through surveys delivered to all study participants before Groups' A intervention (survey 1), after the intervention (survey 2), and three months later (survey 3). <br> A timeline analysis of survey results for Group A and Group B was performed. In addition, the results of Group’s A surveys 1 and 2 were compared to the results of Group’s B surveys 1 and 2, respectively, adjusting for baseline differences. <br> The protocol and project materials were reviewed and approved by the local ethics committee, the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board (CBCHB) Institutional Review Board (IRB) (IRB2019-16) and the Institutional Review Board of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (IRB-300004333).