Scale-up of an Internet-Delivered Study for HIV+ Men
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: HIV
In brief
Although HIV testing and highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) have improved survival with HIV, the relatively low level of ART adherence presents a significant public health challenge in terms of the potential to transmit HIV. Preventing transmission in virally unsuppressed HIV+ MSM who have condomless anal sex (CAS) with serodiscordant partners can have a great public health impact. As new HIV infections in MSM have been attributed in part to increased access to sex partners online, it is critical to deliver behavioral interventions to HIV+ MSM online to reach many high-risk men at a relatively low cost. The investigators' theoretically-grounded HIV prevention videos about CAS, HIV disclosure, and testing in MSM were rigorously evaluated among MSM recruited online. Findings indicated significant reductions in CAS and significant increases in HIV status disclosure at 3-month follow-up, compared to baseline. In a subsequent online, randomized controlled trial (RCT) for MSM, investigators found significant reductions in CAS among MSM in the video arm at 60-day follow-up, compared to baseline; HIV+ MSM in the video arm reduced UAI, including serodiscordant CAS (SDCAS) at 60-day follow-up, compared to baseline. Based on these findings, investigators worked with POZ.com (POZ), the largest website for HIV+ individuals, to test whether they could recruit ethnically diverse HIV+ MSM and were very successful. The investigators have identified a potentially highly effective and feasible risk reduction intervention approach for HIV+ MSM. With the commitment of POZ and a strong team of experts, the investigators propose to reshoot the videos to show the perspective of an HIV-positive man's experience with relationships and struggle ART adherence. The intervention videos will provide short doses for 10 online sessions (including boosters). We will target HIV+ MSM who are virally unsuppressed and monitor self-reported clinical indicators (i.e., viral load). Further, we will target online recruitment by race/ethnicity to enroll equal numbers of HIV+ White, Black and Hispanic MSM for balanced representation; improving retention with incentives and a proven online platform; including educational information about ART adherence; and cost and cost-effectiveness analyses for potentially averted HIV infections to determine health-related cost savings. Online, the investigators will recruit and follow a national sample of 1,500 high-risk, virally unsuppressed HIV+ MSM for 12 months.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT02023580
- Run by
- Public Health Solutions
- People needed
- 1197
- Starts
- 2015-06-01
- Expected to finish
- 2017-03-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2017-12-29
Who can join
Age: 18 and older. Sex: male. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- biologically male
- age 18 or over
- able to read and respond in English
- reside within the U.S.
- report CAS with any HIV-negative or unknown status male partners in the past 6 months
- identify as HIV-positive
- in the past year, report a detectable viral load OR report not being on ART and not knowing their viral load OR report past month suboptimal ART adherence
- report their race and ethnicity as White, Black or Hispanic
- be willing to participate in an online intervention study for 12 months
- have a working email address and cell phone number for intervention follow-up
You may not qualify if…
- HIV-negative or untested MSM
- women
- transgender persons
- anyone under age 18
Where it is running
- Public Health Solutions — New York, New York, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.