Clinical trial NCT03418636: The Staying Safe Intervention
Official title: The Staying Safe Intervention: Preventing HCV Among Young Opioid Injectors
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hepatitis C
Opioid Use
Keywords: People who inject drugs
Hepatitis C prevention
Young adults
Behavioral interventions
Lead sponsor: National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-02-01
Enrollment: 456
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 29
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The growing population of young people who inject drugs (PWID) is at extremely high risk for HCV infection through the use of contaminated injection equipment, yet, to date, no behavioral intervention has been sufficiently potent to produce significant reductions in HCV incidence among PWID. To address this critical public health need, our team developed Staying Safe (Ssafe), an innovative, strengths-based, socio-behavioral HCV prevention intervention found in preliminary research to be highly acceptable and feasible, with strong indications of efficacy. The proposed randomized, controlled trial will assess the effectiveness of the Ssafe intervention in reducing both injection-related HCV/HIV risk behavior and HCV incidence among young adults (ages 18-29) who inject opioids (heroin and/or prescription opioids).

Detailed description: HCV infection is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the U.S., with the overwhelming majority of new HCV infections occurring among people who inject drugs (PWID). Sharing syringes and other injection equipment is the primary risk factor for HCV transmission. HCV prevalence is extremely high in most U.S. PWID populations (typically ranging from \~40-70%). Research shows that young PWID (under age 30) engage in particularly high rates of risky injection, and that HCV incidence is highest in the first 3-5 years of an individual's injection career. The national significance of this public health problem is heightened by the recent epidemic of prescription opioid (PO) misuse in youth which has evolved into widespread heroin use and injection drug use, creating a new generation of young injectors at risk for HCV (and HIV). These trends demonstrate the urgent need for innovative new approaches to HCV prevention tailored to the growing population of young PWID.

To date, no behavioral intervention has been sufficiently potent to produce significant reductions in HCV incidence in at-risk groups of PWID. To address this critical gap, our team developed Staying Safe (Ssafe), an innovative, strengths-based, socio-behavioral HCV prevention intervention for young PWID. Ssafe addresses multi-level "upstream" determinants of risk that occur relatively early in the causal chain of risk, including eco-social conditions, social relations and risk situations, in addition to directly targeting risky injection practices. Ssafe trains and motivates PWID to better manage drug use in order to avoid situations and practices that promote risky injection (e.g., "binging" on drugs), and to implement health-protective behaviors (e.g., promoting risk-reduction norms in injection networks). In preliminary research we found Ssafe to be highly acceptable and feasible, with strong indications of efficacy.

In this study we propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of the Ssafe intervention (with a mobile phone-delivered booster application) in reducing injection-related risk behavior and HCV incidence among 18-29 year-olds (n=456) who inject opioids (heroin and/or POs) and test HCV and HIV antibody-negative at baseline. We hypothesize that Ssafe will significantly reduce injection risk behaviors and HCV infections relative to a time- and attention-matched control intervention. We will also examine whether Ssafe's effects are mediated by (a) drug use management practices (injection frequency, overdose, opioid intake, withdrawal episodes); (b) individual-level mechanisms of behavior change (motivation/self-efficacy, planning skills); and (c) key upstream socio-structural and network-level determinants of risk (social support, skills to avoid PWID-associated stigma, drug treatment and SEP utilization, injection network size and risk norms). The proposed trial promises to significantly advance our ability to prevent HCV infection in the growing population of young, PO-initiated injectors.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Hepatitis C antibody-negative
* HIV antibody-negative
* Have injected drugs 4 or more times in the past 30 days
* Current opioid use (verified by rapid urine screen)
* Speak English
* Willing to participate in assigned intervention

Primary outcomes:
measure: Injection risk behavior: Syringe-sharing
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection risk behavior: Syringe-sharing partners
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection risk behavior: Secondary injection equipment-sharing
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection risk behavior: Secondary injection equipment-sharing partners
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection risk behavior: Backloading
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection risk behavior: Backloading partners
timeFrame: 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Hepatitis C incidence
timeFrame: 12 months
measure: Overdose events
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Injection frequency
timeFrame: 30 days
measure: Injection-related complications
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
measure: Injection network size
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Motivation/Self-efficacy to inject safely and manage opioid intake
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: OUD treatment participation
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Opioid withdrawal
timeFrame: 3 months
Locations:
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Staying Safe Study 235 Eldridge Street
state: New York
Study officials:
References: