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Gathering Online for Dialogue and Discussion to Enhance Social Support

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
HIV
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
Alcohol Misuse
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Interventions
Behavioral: mHealth-Women's CoOp
Behavioral: Virtual Group
Registration Number
NCT05753683
Lead Sponsor
RTI International
Brief Summary

The goal of this trial is to test a modified mobile health intervention (with a group component) relative to a mobile health intervention in a two-arm randomized trial with 500 young African American women who are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative and who misuse alcohol.

The expected outcomes are to: (1) determine the efficacy of the virtual group component in reducing alcohol use and sexual risk and increasing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) utilization; and (2) understand selected outcomes for implementation.

Participants will be randomized to receive either the mHealth app or the mHealth app plus the group component, and followed up at 3- and 6-months post-enrollment.

Detailed Description

A total of 500 participants who are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative who engage in heavy alcohol use will be enrolled and referred to their local health departments for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Primary biobehavioral outcomes assessed will include reduced alcohol use (self-reported and biological, including phosphatidylethanol \[PEth\]), increased PrEP uptake (self-reported and biological), and reduced sexual risk (self-reported condomless sex and impaired sex and biological testing for HIV) at 3- and 6-month follow-up.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
500
Inclusion Criteria
  • identify as Black/African American
  • identify as female
  • be between 18 and 30 years old
  • recent substance use
  • HIV negative and not currently on PrEP
  • have an Android or iOS-based smartphone

Selected

Exclusion Criteria
  • test positive for HIV
  • participated in the previous study activities of the current study or previous related studies

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Enhanced: mHealth-Women's CoOp+GroupVirtual GroupParticipants assigned to receive an evidence-based mHealth alcohol and other drug use and sexual risk reduction intervention for young African American women, in addition to a virtual peer group component. The app with a link to the virtual group will be installed on each participant's smartphone by study staff after randomization.
Enhanced: mHealth-Women's CoOp+GroupmHealth-Women's CoOpParticipants assigned to receive an evidence-based mHealth alcohol and other drug use and sexual risk reduction intervention for young African American women, in addition to a virtual peer group component. The app with a link to the virtual group will be installed on each participant's smartphone by study staff after randomization.
Standard: mHealth-Women's CoOpmHealth-Women's CoOpParticipants assigned to receive an evidence-based mHealth alcohol and other drug use and sexual risk reduction intervention for young African American women. The app will be installed on each participant's smartphone by study staff after randomization.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Alcohol (Biological)6-month

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in dried blood spots (DBS) with concentration equal to or greater than 8 ng/mL is an indication of alcohol exposure in the last 2-4 weeks (approximately). Higher concentrations of PEth indicates higher recent alcohol consumption.

Alcohol (Self-Reported)6-month

World Health Organization's Alcohol, Smoking \& Substance Use Involvement Scale (ASSIST) assesses risk for alcohol consumption problems via 8 items. Scores range from 0 to 39, and this score indicates level of risk for alcohol consumption problems. Scores from 0 to 10 indicate lower risk for alcohol problems, scores from 11 to 26 indicate moderate risk, and scores from 27 to 39 indicate high risk.

Sexual Risk: HIV (Biological)6-month

Number of participants living with HIV as assessed by OraQuick® ADVANCE Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test with oral fluid, with an approximate 99.3% sensitivity \& 99.8% specificity, which detects antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2.

Sexual Risk (Self-reported)6-month

Revised Risk Behavior Assessment (RRBA): Condomless vaginal or anal sex, impaired sex (AOD use prior to or during sex), casual partners, sex trading, \& concurrent partners (≥2 partners), other contraceptive use, \& perception of risk, HIV, recent STIs

PrEP Utilization (Biological)6-month

Dried blood spot (DBS) samples will be analyzed by quantification of drug concentrations by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technology using assays validated at the study laboratory.

PrEP Utilization (Self-Reported)6-month

Revised Risk Behavior Assessment (RRBA): Self-reported past 30-day use, missed doses, and patterns of use

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Drug Use (Biological)6-month

Easy@Home Multi-Drug Screen Test: Rapid urine-based drug screen to detect metabolites of recent drug use (\>99% correlation to gas chromatography at 95% confidence level) 10-panel-amphetamine, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamine, ecstasy, methadone, phencyclidine, and marijuana. Each test has a control line region to serve as a procedural control and a test line region; results with only a line in the control region and without a line in the test region are classified as positive. Concentrations at or above the following cutoff concentrations indicate a positive result for the following substances: amphetamine (1000 ng/mL), benzodiazepines (300 ng/mL), barbiturates (300 ng/mL), cocaine (300 ng/mL), opiates (2000 ng/mL), methamphetamine (1000 ng/mL), ecstasy (500 ng/mL), methadone (300 ng/mL), phencyclidine (25 ng/mL), marijuana (50 ng/mL).

Drug Use (Self-Reported)6-month

The World Health Organization's Alcohol, Smoking \& Substance Use Involvement Scale (ASSIST) assesses risk for problems with drugs-such as marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine, and opioids-via 8 items. Scores range from 0 to 39, and this score indicates level of risk for drug use problems. Scores from 0 to 3 indicate lower risk for drug use problems, scores from 4 to 26 indicate moderate risk, and scores from 27 to 39 indicate high risk.

Perceived social support6-month

Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support assesses perceived social support from family, friends, and others across a 12-item scale. Each item uses a 7-point scale (1 = very strongly disagree, 7 = very strongly agree). Items are summed and the total score is divided by the number of items. Scores range from 0 to 7. Higher scores indicate higher levels of social support.

Violence6-month

Adaptation of the World Health Organization (WHO) violence scale: Self-reported occurrence of emotional, physical, and sexual violence with an additional financial abuse query, all combined into a 16-item scale. Each item uses a 3-point response scale (1 = Never, 2 = Sometimes, 3 = Frequently). Items are summed, and scores range from 16 to 48. Higher scores indicate more frequent occurrences of violence.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

RTI International

🇺🇸

Durham, North Carolina, United States

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