ArticleJMIR research protocols2021
Utility of a Machine-Guided Tool for Assessing Risk Behavior Associated With Contracting HIV in Three Sites in South Africa: Protocol for an In-Field Evaluation.
Article in JMIR research protocols, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The use of artificial intelligence based modelling techniques in One Health-related infectious disease studies in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2026Pooled it
- Risk prediction models for targeted testing of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Utility of a machine-guided tool for assessing risk behaviour associated with contracting HIV in three sites in South Africa.Informatics in medicine unlocked · 2023Article
- The role of machine learning in HIV risk prediction.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMobile technology has helped to advance health programs, and studies have shown that an automated risk prediction model can successfully be used to identify patients who exhibit a high probable risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A machine-guided tool is an algorithm that takes a set of subjective and objective answers from a simple questionnaire and computes an HIV risk assessment score.
objectiveThe primary objective of this study is to establish that machine learning can be used to develop machine-guided tools and give us a deeper statistical understanding of the correlation between certain behavioral patterns and HIV.
methodsIn total, 200 HIV-negative adult individuals across three South African study sites each (two semirural and one urban) will be recruited. Study processes will include (1) completing a series of questions (demographic, sexual behavior and history, personal, lifestyle, and symptoms) on an application system, unaided (assistance will only be provided upon user request); (2) two HIV tests (one per study visit) being performed by a nurse/counselor according to South African national guidelines (to evaluate the prediction accuracy of the tool); and (3) communicating test results and completing a user experience survey questionnaire. The output metrics for this study will be computed by using the participants' risk assessment scores as "predictions" and the test results as the "ground truth." Analyses will be completed after visit 1 and then again after visit 2. All risk assessment scores will be used to calculate the reliability of the machine-guided tool.
resultsEthical approval was received from the University of Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC; ethics reference no. 200312) on August 20, 2020. This study is ongoing. Data collection has commenced and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021. We will report on the machine-guided tool's performance and usability, together with user satisfaction and recommendations for improvement.
conclusionsMachine-guided risk assessment tools can provide a cost-effective alternative to large-scale HIV screening and help in providing targeted counseling and testing to prevent the spread of HIV.
trial registrationSouth African National Clinical Trial Registry DOH-27-042021-679; https://sanctr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=5545. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/30304.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.