Clinical trial NCT01497405: WHC+ (Women's Health CoOp PLUS)
Official title: Combination Prevention for Vulnerable Women in South Africa
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: HIV
Sexual Risk
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Substance Abuse
Violence
Victimization
Keywords: Gender-based Violence
HIV
Randomized Controlled Trial
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Substance Abuse Detection
Test, Treat and Retain
Lead sponsor: RTI International
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
First posted: 2011-12-22
Enrollment: 641
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 15
Maximum age (years): 55
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This study compares the effects of standard HIV test, treat and retain (TTR) practices with TTR plus a woman-focused enhanced strategy--Women's Health CoOp (WHC+) intervention) targeting hard-to-reach and vulnerable alcohol and other drug (AOD)-using women to determine if the WHC+ intervention is more efficacious than TTR alone in reducing HIV risk behavior. Additionally, the study will determine whether HIV positive women in the WHC+ arm are more likely to follow through with referrals for further medical evaluation and linkages to HIV treatment and other care than women in the TTR arm.

Detailed description: There is growing recognition that no single strategy will be sufficient to eliminate transmission. In light of evidence that neither existing biomedical interventions nor any existing behavioral interventions will be sufficient to control the HIV epidemic in South Africa, the proposed study will combine a biomedical intervention with an evidence-based behavioral intervention (i.e., the Women's Health CoOp) to maximize the efficacy of both strategies. If this combination intervention proves efficacious, there is a high likelihood that it can be widely implemented, be sustainable and have a substantial public health impact by reducing the exceedingly high HIV incidence in South Africa.

The overarching goal of the proposed research is to determine whether this enhanced combination prevention strategy targeting vulnerable AOD-using women is more efficacious than current standard practices. The specific aims of the proposed study are:

Aim 1: To expand the WHC outreach strategies to reach more alcohol and other drug (AOD) - using vulnerable women in Pretoria, South Africa.

Aim 2: To test whether adding WHC to standard Treat, Test, and Retain (TTR) practices results in more HIV-positive AOD-using women getting medical evaluations (e.g., cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4), viral load), starting treatment, staying in treatment and in greater reductions in risk behaviors (e.g., AOD use, condom use, victimization) among all women-positive or negative.

The study uses a geographical cluster randomized design. Hotspots (i.e. places where sex workers and drug using women congregate) in the city of Pretoria and the surrounding areas were mapped using geographic information system (GIS) software. Fourteen hotspots were identified and geocoded. The entire area was divided into 14 zones, each of which included a hotspot. Seven matched pairs of zones were created based on socio-economic conditions and estimates of the numbers of sex workers and drug-using women residing in them. Zones within pairs were randomized to the TTR arm or the WHC+ arm. Participants are recruited by outreach workers and their intervention condition is based on the zone from which they were recruited. At study enrollment/baseline, eligible participants complete a questionnaire and baseline HIV, drug and pregnancy testing. Follow-up data collection will be conducted at 6-months and 12-months post-baseline.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Female
2. Black/African
3. 15 years or older (if under 18, must be able to sign assent)
4. Use at least one of the following drugs: alcohol, marijuana (dagga), methamphetamine (tik), Mandrax (methaqualone), cocaine (crack and/or powder), heroin (Thai White), inhalants (glue and benzene) methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA -ecstasy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), or Kat/cat, Nyaope (a mixture of marijuana and heroin) - weekly in the past 90 days
5. Have had unprotected vaginal sex with a male partner in the last six months
6. Able to speak English, Sesotho, Tswana, or Zulu
7. Consent to HIV rapid testing and drug testing
8. Provide written verbal and assent/consent to participate
9. Able to provide verifiable locator information for the Tshwane area and plan to stay there in the next 12 months

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Males
2. Individuals who do not self-identify as Black/African

Primary outcomes:
measure: Unprotected intercourse among women
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Unprotected intercourse among women
timeFrame: 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Medical evaluation initiation amongst HIV-positive
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Medical evaluation initiation amongst HIV-positive
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Treatment initiation and retention amongst HIV-positive women
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Treatment initiation and retention amongst HIV-positive women
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: HIV viral load among HIV-positive women who meet criteria for antiretroviral treatment (ART) and who produce medical records with HIV viral loads
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: HIV viral load among HIV-positive women who meet criteria for antiretroviral treatment (ART) and who produce medical records with HIV viral loads
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Alcohol use
timeFrame: 6 months post intervention
measure: Alcohol use
timeFrame: 12 months post intervention
measure: Victimization
timeFrame: 6 months post intervention
measure: Victimization
timeFrame: 12 months post intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Research Triangle Park
country: United States
facility: RTI International - Headquarters
state: North Carolina
city: Pretoria
country: South Africa
facility: Wesley Community Centre
Study officials:
affiliation: RTI International
name: Felicia Browne, ScD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Wechsberg WM, Deren S, Myers B, Kirtadze I, Zule WA, Howard B, El-Bassel N. Gender-Specific HIV Prevention Interventions for Women Who Use Alcohol and Other Drugs: The Evolution of the Science and Future Directions. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2015 Jun 1;69 Suppl 2(0 1):S128-39. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000627.
citation: Wechsberg WM, Peasant C, Kline T, Zule WA, Ndirangu J, Browne FA, Gabel C, van der Horst C. HIV Prevention Among Women Who Use Substances And Report Sex Work: Risk Groups Identified Among South African Women. AIDS Behav. 2017 Nov;21(Suppl 2):155-166. doi: 10.1007/s10461-017-1889-0.
citation: Wechsberg WM, van der Horst C, Ndirangu J, Doherty IA, Kline T, Browne FA, Belus JM, Nance R, Zule WA. Seek, test, treat: substance-using women in the HIV treatment cascade in South Africa. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2017 Apr 26;12(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s13722-017-0077-x.
citation: Wechsberg WM, Zule WA, Ndirangu J, Kline TL, Rodman NF, Doherty IA, Novak SP, van der Horst CM. The biobehavioral Women's Health CoOp in Pretoria, South Africa: study protocol for a cluster-randomized design. BMC Public Health. 2014 Oct 15;14:1074. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1074.