Improving Engagement in HIV and Cancer Care in Zimbabwe

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Cancer; HIV

• Registration Number: NCT06934369
• Lead Sponsor: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Brief Summary

In Zimbabwe, people who have cancer and HIV may have a difficult time staying engaged in their HIV care while they are being treated for cancer. This is because HIV and cancer care are usually provided at different health facilities, which can result in barriers to accessing clinical care for both HIV and cancer at the same time. It is important to remain engaged in HIV care, and continue taking medication to treat HIV throughout cancer treatment. The goal of this project is to identify barriers that make it difficult to stay engaged in HIV care and continue HIV treatment during cancer treatment and develop strategies to address them. We will accomplish this by first observing a group of 150 people with cancer and HIV who are receiving cancer treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital, in Harare, Zimbabwe. We will measure barriers to accessing HIV care, and disruptions to HIV care engagement during cancer treatment. Next, we will work with experts and key stakeholders to develop strategies that can be put in place at Parirenyatwa Hospital to better support engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment. We will work with the cancer ward at the hospital to implement these strategies. Finally, we will observe a second group of 150 people with cancer and HIV, who begin their cancer treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital after the strategies have been put in place. We will measure acceptability of these strategies to both patients and hospital staff. We will also measure barriers to accessing HIV care and disruptions to HIV care engagement in the second group. We will compare barriers to HIV care and HIV care engagement in the second group to the first group, to determine whether the strategies make it easier for people with cancer and HIV to remain engaged in HIV care during cancer treatment.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-11-18
• Status Verified: 2025-04
• Study First Submitted: 2025-04-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-04-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-11
• Study First Posted: 2025-04-18
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-18
• Primary Completion: 2028-05-01
• Study Completion: 2028-12-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 300

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 or older
• Registered patient at Parirenyatwa Hospital Radiotherapy Centre, receiving cancer treatment for a new diagnosis
• HIV-positive

Exclusion Criteria

• Benign diagnosis or cancer recurrence

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SEQUENTIAL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Acceptability of strategies to improve engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment	Acceptability assessed at Months 1, 3, and 6 after enrollment in pilot cohort	Acceptability of the strategies to improve engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment will be assessed using questionnaires administered during 6 months of follow-up after enrollment in the post-intervention cohort. The primary outcome will only be assessed in the post-intervention cohort.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Missed ART prescription refills	From enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment	We will measure missed ART prescription refills by self-reported ability to collect ART during cancer treatment
ART adherence	From enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment	We will measure ART adherence via self-reported missed ART doses, collected by questionnaire
Missed HIV clinical visits	From study enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment	We will measure missed HIV clinical visits by self-reported ability to attend HIV clinic visits during cancer treatment

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Parirenyatwa Hospital; 🇿🇼 Harare, Zimbabwe