Pilot of Mpowerment for Young Men Who Have Sex With Men (YMSM) in Beirut

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This project will adapt and pilot a multi-level, community-based intervention to promote HIV prevention and sexual health among young men who have sex with men in Beirut.

Detailed Description
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Mpowerment (MP) is an evidence-based community-level, structural, social and behavioral intervention for HIV prevention developed for YMSM that targets individual and community empowerment and mobilization, self-affirmation, sexual self-knowledge, and creation of a supportive social environment. MP has been widely used in the U.S., but not in a mostly Muslim setting. This project will adapt and pilot MP for the sociocultural issues facing YMSM (age 18-29) in Beirut. There will be a 2-year pilot implementation of MP, with longitudinal cohorts of YMSM in Beirut and Jounieh, the latter being the control community. Primary outcomes will be unprotected anal sex and HIV testing, with secondary outcomes being engagement in peer outreach, and perceived peer norms related to condom use and HIV testing.

Official Title
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Pilot of Culturally Tailored Mpowerment for HIV Prevention Among YMSM in Beirut

Conditions
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HIV

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mpowerment


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: men aged 18-29, who have had anal sex with men in the past 6 months Exclusion Criteria: not residing in Lebanon

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 29 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Intervention will be evaluated with community cohort and use of pre- post-intervention analysis plan
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Other: Community cohort<br>Beirut community will receive the multi-component intervention Mpowerment; the community cohort of YMSM will be used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on the community, as the cohort participants may or may not have participated in the intervention. | Behavioral: Mpowerment<br>* MP is a multi-level intervention that reaches out to all YMSM in a community by mobilizing men to encourage their friends to reduce risk behavior and join the program (informal outreach), along with holding social activities that promote safe sex (formal outreach). MP provides YMSM with skills, support and confidence to find solutions within themselves for sexual health, and seeks to affirm the validity and rights of same-sex behavior and identities.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| condomless anal sex | condomless anal sex with HIV+ or unknown status partners in past 3 months will be assessed via questionnaire | past 3 months | 
| HIV testing | Variable will be assessed via questionnaire | past 6 months |