JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The use of geosocial networking (GSN) apps was found to be associated with increased risky sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, its relationship with the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections remains inconclusive. The prevalence of app use among MSM in Shenzhen has surged since 2015, highlighting the need for research on the spatiotemporal and behavioral patterns of this key population to inform targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the population size, spatiotemporal and behavioral patterns, and mobility of GSN app-using MSM in Shenzhen using mobile big data, to gain deeper insights into this key population and inform the development of enhanced and innovative strategies for HIV prevention and interventions, as well as guide health resource allocation.

Methods:

By leveraging mobile big data application technology, we collected demographic information of users of the target apps- Blued, Jack'd, and Zank-as well as geographic location data at subdistrict scale over continuous time periods. Spatial autocorrelation (Global Moran’s I) and hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi) were employed to identify the spatial hot spots. The Geodetector tool was adopted to measure and attribute spatially stratified heterogeneity (SSH) features.

Results:

From September 2017 to August 2018, a total of 158,387 males aged 15-69 years used one of the three apps, with the majority (45.03%) aged 25-34 years. The estimated population of app-using MSM in Shenzhen during this period was 268,817. The geographic distribution of app-using MSM in Shenzhen was clustered, with hot spots primarily located in central and western Shenzhen, while the distribution of HIV testing and counseling was more concentrated in central-eastern Shenzhen. Approximately 60,202 (38%) app-using MSM left Shenzhen during the Spring Festival, while 37,756 (62.7%) of them returned after the holiday. The destination distribution showed a relatively centralized flow throughout the country, with the largest mobility within Guangdong province (67.7%) and lower mobility to Hunan province (7.9%) and other neighboring provinces (3-5%), such as Jiangxi, Guangxi and Hubei Province.

Conclusions:

Shenzhen has a large MSM population. The variation and inconsistent spatiotemporal distribution of app use and HIV testing and counseling emphasizes the need to adapt traditional venue-based prevention and intervention strategies to align with the actual distribution of this population. Given the relatively high internal and inter-provincial mobility of app-using MSM, further smartphone-based behavioral monitoring could provide valuable insights for developing enhanced and innovative HIV prevention and intervention strategies. Moreover, our study demonstrates the potential of mobile big data to address critical research gaps often overlooked by traditional research methods.