Challenges and Lessons Learned From a Mobile Health, Web-Based Human Papillomavirus Intervention for Female Korean...

Mobile health (mHealth) and Web-based research methods are becoming more commonplace for researchers. However, there is a lack of mHealth and Web-based human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention experimental studies that discuss potential issues that may arise.

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of research procedures and discuss the challenges and lessons learned from an mHealth and Web-based HPV prevention experimental study targeting female Korean American college students in the United States.

A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in an mHealth and Web-based platform with 104 female Korean American college students aged 18-26 years between September 2016 and December 2016. Participants were randomized to either the experimental group (a storytelling video intervention) or the comparison group (a nonnarrative, information-based intervention). Outcomes included the feasibility of research procedures (recruitment, eligibility, randomization, and retention).

From September 2016 to October 2016, we recorded 225 entries in our initial eligibility survey. The eligibility rate was 54.2% (122/225). This study demonstrated a high recruitment rate (95.6%, 111/122) and retention rate (83.7%, 87/104) at the 2-month follow-up.

Findings from this study demonstrated sufficient feasibility in terms of research procedures to justify a full-scale RCT. Given the increased possibility of invalid or misrepresentative entries in mHealth and Web-based studies, strategies for detection and prevention are critical.

ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN12175285; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12175285.