P407\u2005Modest monetary incentivized peer referral to increase chlamydia community-based testing among young Black men who have sex with women

Abstract

Purpose The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend screening young women for chlamydia but not young men. One reason young men have not been a focus for chlamydia screening is due to the perceived difficulty of accessing these men. Peers are among the most influential people in a young person’s life. We hypothesized that incentivized peer referral (IPR) could assist in increasing enrollment in this screening study. Methods The Check it Program in New Orleans is a community-based screening program for young Black men aged 15–24. Peer referral was monitored between 3/7/2018–11/28/2020. IPR started on 8/29/2020 during which men enrolled in the parent study were offered $5 for each peer they referred and were successfully enrolled in the study. Results Of 1457 men enrolled in the study, 44 were enrolled after IPR was initiated. The percentage of men who said they were referred by a friend was higher in the post-IPR compared to the pre-IPR period (40.9% vs. 20.0%, P Conclusion Incentivized peer referral significantly increased study enrollment and can serve as a method for increasing screening rates in community-based chlamydia screening programs for young Black men who have sex with women.