Video Tool to Promote Knowledge of Syphilis as Facilitator of HIV Transmission

During the winter of 2007, the Syphilis Advisory Group and Bureau of STD Control of the NYC Department of Health funded the Emergency Department of Jacobi Medical Center to further evaluate the effectiveness of the Syphilis and Men video in additional settings where men access STD related information and testing and where high-risk groups, such as MSM, frequent. The video was evaluated for promoting knowledge of syphilis, especially as facilitator of HIV transmission, and in encouraging concurrent testing (syphilis and HIV) among men recruited from a community-based organization, an ambulatory care setting, and a dance club.

The Solomon-four group design was applied to assess the effectiveness of the video in raising syphilis knowledge among participants, while controlling for the influence of the pre-test knowledge survey in skewing post-knowledge survey scores. Participants in Group 1 received a pre-test survey, the video intervention, and the post-test survey; Group 2 received the pre-test and post-test surveys; Group 3 received the video intervention and post-test survey; and Group 4 received the post-test survey only. A computer-generated randomization list was used to assign participants to one of the four groups.

The primary outcome was the score on a 10-question measure designed to assess knowledge attained from the syphilis educational video

Inclusion Criteria: must speak english or spanish Exclusion Criteria: excluded if hearing or visually impaired