HOW DIGITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY CAN MAKE HIV
PREVENTION MORE EQUITABLE Evan Hendrickson
EPIDEMIOLOGY, MEET BIG DATA
From 2015 through 2019, all new HIV diagnoses were 69% men who have sex with men (MSM), 36% of
Digital Epidemiology is a rapidly growing field that
those diagnoses being Black MSM. 1 From this
leverages Big Data derived from social media and
statistic alone, it is evident that these populations
other mobile applications to improve public health
need to be targeted when working to find effective
4, 5
preventative strategies. However, traditional public
prevention and intervention strategies. Using traditional epidemiological methods, data from beyond the public health sphere that was not initially intended to be used for epidemiology is collected, allowing for larger amounts of data to be collected from a broader pool. The emergence of Digital Epidemiology has raised several ethical concerns from both tech and public health leaders. However, I believe there are ethical applications to make data collection, epidemiological analysis, and prevention initiatives more equitable. Digital Epidemiology can be utilized to better reach more
health interventions have and continue to struggle to reach these populations. The LGBTQ+ community and
communities
of
color
may
often
feel
disenfranchised due to trauma from the long history of mistreatment by the United States healthcare system,
or
by
medical
professionals
who
are
incompetent or discriminatory when caring for them.
Therefore,
MSM
and
BIPOC
individuals
understandably may feel less inclined to participate in HIV-related studies, which hinders progress in HIV prevention.
isolated and marginalized demographics than traditional data collection and epidemiological
Grindr, the world's largest social networking app for
methods, particularly concerning HIV prevention.
gay, bi, trans, and queer people, data was used in a 2012 study to assess HIV prevention practices and risk among MSM in Los Angeles. The researchers recruited MSM through the platform, and administered a computer-guided interview-based survey asking about user’s HIV statues, sex practices, and their 2
perceived risk of acquiring HIV. After collecting this information, participants were asked if they had ever participated in an HIV-related clinical trial, as well as if they would like to in the future. Just barely 11% of participants reported that they had ever participated in a clinical trial, while over half indicated that they
