Real Risks of the Online World

The Real Risks of the Online World is a mixed-methods study with the objective to develop and validate a scale measuring problematic online dating app (ODA) use and to assess its association with sexual and mental health outcomes among men who have sex with men (MSM; clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04714034). This study is a subproject of the SwissPrEPared study, a nationwide longitudinal cohort of HIV-negative individuals seeking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03893188). Data were collected between November 2021 and December 2022 at Checkpoint Zurich, Switzerland’s largest sexual health clinic. The qualitative phase focused on the development and validation of the problematic ODA use scale, while the quantitative phase assessed STI/HIV incidence and psychiatric disorders over a 6-month follow-up period. The findings aim to provide a deeper understanding of the risks associated with problematic ODA use in MSM.