Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Mar 31, 2022
Date Accepted: Oct 20, 2022
“Thank Heavens for Sparing My Life”: Thematic and Content Analyses of Chinese Users’ Feedback Comments on HIV Self-Testing Kits from E-Commerce Platforms
ABSTRACT
Background:
HIV self-testing is preferred by many Chinese for its convenience and confidentiality. However, most studies on HIV self-testing (HIVST) uptake in China over-focused on men who have sex with men (MSM) and over-relied on obtrusive methods such as surveys and interviews to collect data.
Objective:
The current study aims to explore Chinese HIVST-kit users’ authentic experience via their feedback comments posted on e-commerce platforms from an unobtrusive approach.
Methods:
In total, 21018 feedback comments about buying and using HIVST kits posted on Chinese e-commerce platforms (Tmall and Pinduoduo) were collected. An inductive thematic analysis based on a random sample of 367 comments were conducted and yielded several thematic features. These thematic features were developed into coding categories for a quantitative content analysis of another random sample of 1857 comments.
Results:
Four themes were identified in the first study including expression of positive and negative emotions after and before getting test respectively, calling for living a clean and moral life in the future, comments on the sellers and HIVST kits, and narratives about the reasons for buying HIVST kits. The results from the second study suggested that there were significant associations between different platforms and several thematic features. Nearly 50% of the comments were related to the product itself and the disclosures of HIV negative test results. More than 25% of the comments showed users’ feelings of gratefulness after receiving negative test results such as “thank heavens for sparing my life”.
Conclusions:
The results suggested that Chinese users relied on HIVST kits to reduce and prevent HIV infection while they also considered getting HIV infection uncontrollable or dependent on one’s morality. The traditional Chinese health belief in which health is influenced by one’s morality still persists among some Chinese users. Many users also lacked appropriate knowledge about HIV transmission and self-testing kits. Clinical Trial: Not applicable.
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