@article{ref1,
title="Exploring the use of smartphone geofencing to study characteristics of alcohol drinking locations in high-risk gay and bisexual men",
journal="Alcoholism: clinical and experimental research",
year="2019",
author="Wray, Tyler B. and Pérez, Ashley E. and Celio, Mark A. and Carr, Daniel J. and Adia, Alexander C. and Monti, Peter M.",
volume="43",
number="5",
pages="900-906",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Geofencing offers new opportunities to study how specific environments affect alcohol use and related behavior. In this study, we examined the feasibility of using geofencing to examine social/environmental factors related to alcohol use and sexual perceptions in a sample of gay and bisexual men (GBM) who engage in heavy drinking and high-risk sex. <br><br>METHODS: HIV-negative GBM (N=76) completed ecological momentary assessments for 30 days via a smartphone application, and were prompted to complete surveys when inside general geofences set around popular bars and clubs. A subset (N = 45) were also asked to complete surveys when inside personal geofences, which participants set themselves by identifying locations where they typically drank heavily. <br><br>RESULTS: Approximately 49% of participants received a survey prompted by a general geofence. Among those who identified at least one personal drinking location, 62.2% received a personal geofence-prompted survey. Of the 175 total location-based surveys, 40.2% occurred when participants were not at the location that was intended to be captured. Participants reported being most able to openly express themselves at gay bars/clubs and private residences, but these locations were also more &quot;sexualized&quot; than general bars/clubs. Participants did not drink more heavily at gay bars/clubs, but did when in locations with more intoxicated patrons or guests. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Geofencing has the potential to improve the validity of studies exploring environmental influences on drinking. However, the high number of &quot;false positive&quot; prompts we observed suggests that geofences should be used carefully until improvements in precision are more widely available. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<br><br>This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-6008",
doi="10.1111/acer.13991",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.13991"
}