Social Media for ART Adherence and Retention in Adolescents and Young Adults: the Vijana-SMART Study

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: HIV-1-infection; Adherence, Medication; Depression
• Interventions: Behavioral: Vijana-SMART

• Registration Number: NCT05634265
• Lead Sponsor: University of Washington

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to investigate whether a virtual peer support group improves ART knowledge, adherence, and mental health in youth living with HIV in Kenya.

Detailed Description

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV show lower ART adherence, higher loss to follow-up and higher AIDS-related mortality than other age groups. Innovative approaches are needed that address AYA's unique needs and improve their adherence and retention in HIV care. There is evidence that peer support and mobile messaging with healthcare workers (HCW) are two strategies that may be effective in this group, but their evaluation has been limited and no interventions have combined them. Since 2014, youth-run virtual support groups have spontaneously started at HIV clinics, using the mobile social media application WhatsApp. These groups present valuable case studies from which the proposed project will develop a structured social media intervention that combines peer and HCW support to improve ART adherence and retention, guided by the preferences of AYA. The SPECIFIC AIMS are to (1) Characterize the existing WhatsApp groups through in-depth interviews with members and detailed content analysis of the group's communications during a 6-week observation period. This will define the elements and features desired by AYA in a social media intervention. (2) Guided by findings from Aim 1, behavioral theory, and the study team's ongoing research on mobile messaging to improve ART adherence, to develop and refine structured content for a reproducible WhatsApp intervention that incorporates peer and HCW interaction. (3) Pilot the structured intervention for 6 months in another clinic and evaluate its impact on intermediate outcomes ART knowledge, depression and stigma.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2019-01-31
• Primary Completion: 2019-12-14
• Study Completion: 2019-12-14
• Status Verified: 2022-11
• Study First Submitted: 2022-11-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-21
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-11-21
• Study First Posted: 2022-12-02
• Last Update Posted: 2022-12-02

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 55

Inclusion Criteria

• Living with HIV
• On ART
• Aware of HIV status
• Has access to WhatsApp
• Literate

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Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Pilot	Vijana-SMART	Participants will be offered the Vijana-SMART WhatsApp group intervention

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depression symptoms	6 months	Self-reported score on PHQ-9 scale
ART information, motivation, behavioral skills	6 months	Self-reported score on abbreviated Lifewindows IMB instrument
ART adherence	6 months	Self-reported score on Wilson 3-item scale
Social support	6 months	Self-reported score on SS-B instrument
Stigma	6 months	Self-reported score on abbreviated ALHIV-SS instrument
Resilience	6 months	Self-reported score on abbreviated Connor-Davidson scale

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Kayole; 🇰🇪 Nairobi, Kenya