HIV and STD Prevention for High-Risk, Inner-City, African American Youth
Condition: HIV Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
MeSH terms: Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 3

Summary: 
      This study will evaluate the joint and separate effectiveness of two HIV/STD prevention
      programs in providing protection against acquiring STDs and maintaining safer sex behavior.
    

Detailed description: 
      Approximately 25% of the new HIV cases in the United States each year occur among
      adolescents. Although African American teens make up only 15% of the adolescent population in
      the U.S., they account for about two thirds of new AIDS cases among teens. An Atlanta,
      Georgia study involving a population composed primarily of urban African American teens
      demonstrated that few of the teens who tested positive for HIV were aware of the risks
      involved in sexual activity. Because of this population's increased risk for contracting HIV
      and other STDs, prevention programs that specifically target African American teens are
      necessary. This study will evaluate the joint and separate effectiveness of two HIV/STD
      prevention programs, small group training and mass media messages, in providing protection
      against acquiring STDs and maintaining safer sex behavior.

      African American adolescents will be recruited for this single-blind, 18-month study through
      community-based organizations in four different cities. All participants will first complete
      a computer-administered survey to assess sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. They will
      also provide a urine sample for STD testing. Following these baseline assessments,
      participants will be randomly assigned to either the Focus on Youth (FOY) HIV prevention
      program or the Promoting Health Among Teens general health intervention. Both programs will
      involve eight 1-hour small group sessions that will occur over three Saturdays. Participants
      in the FOY program will learn safe sex and abstinence skills. Participants in the Promoting
      Health Among Teens intervention will receive general health information about diet, substance
      use, and appropriate screening for common health conditions other than STDs. All participants
      who test positive for an STD during the study will receive treatment. Follow-up assessments
      will occur at Months 6, 12, and 18 post-intervention to determine program effectiveness.

      The second prevention program, mass media messages, will be administered among all
      participating African American teens in one of the two participating Northern cities and one
      of the two participating Southern cities. Cities that will receive the media intervention
      will be randomly selected. The other city in each pair will serve as a control city. Tailored
      HIV/STD prevention messages will be delivered through local mass media. Telephone interviews
      will be conducted over a 34-month period among 900 randomly selected teens from both media
      and non-media cities to assess community-wide effectiveness of the program.
    

Intervention name(s): Social Skills Training; Mass media; Control
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Social skills training includes two 8-hour sexual health skills building sessions conducted in the community.; Mass media provides messages that support sexual health skills.; Control group received no social skills training and no media mass media messages.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Adolescents; Sexually Transmitted Infections; Gonorrhea; Chlamydia Infections