Study objective: To determine the effectiveness of an educational video entitled Syphilis and Men to increase syphilis knowledge among at-risk Black and Hispanic male patients.
Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups and completed a pre-test survey, viewed the video (intervention group) and/or completed a post-test knowledge survey. Our analysis assessed whether the intervention group in comparison to the control group had an increase in syphilis knowledge, regardless of self-reported socio-demographic and sexual behavior characteristics associated with increased risk for syphilis infection.
Results: Two hundred and six (206) males were studied. The intervention group participants scored on average 24.8 percentage points higher than the control group participants (p<.001) on the post-test survey after viewing the video. This difference was present regardless of certain self-reported socio-demographic and sexual behavior characteristics associated with increased risk for syphilis infection.
Conclusion: The Syphilis and Men video is a five-minute, low-cost tool that increased syphilis knowledge among Black and Hispanic male patients and could have similar effects in other settings.