Community Intervention for HIV Testing & Care Linkage Among Young MSM in Bulgaria
Last updated on July 2021Recruitment
- Recruitment Status
- Enrolling by invitation
- Estimated Enrollment
- Same as current
Summary
- Conditions
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- HIV
- Type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Design
- Allocation: RandomizedIntervention Model: Parallel AssignmentMasking: None (Open Label)Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Participation Requirements
- Age
- Between 16 years and 20 years
- Gender
- Only males
Description
In an initial qualitative phase, the investigators will conduct in-depth interviews with MSM ages 16 to 20 and other key informants to gain an understanding of factors related to HIV testing. The project's second phase is a trial of a network intervention to increase regular HIV testing and care lin...
In an initial qualitative phase, the investigators will conduct in-depth interviews with MSM ages 16 to 20 and other key informants to gain an understanding of factors related to HIV testing. The project's second phase is a trial of a network intervention to increase regular HIV testing and care linkage among young MSM. The investigators' prior studies in Bulgaria have shown that young MSM are clustered with other young MSM in social networks. The intervention trial will recruit 54 small social networks of MSM, each consisting of a young MSM "seed" between age 16 and 20 and also all close MSM friends surrounding the seed. All participants will complete baseline measures assessing recent HIV testing practices and testing history; attitudes, intentions, perceived norms, barriers, and understanding about HIV testing and medical care; sexual risk practices; and substance use. All participants will receive HIV risk reduction counseling. Networks will then be randomized to comparison and intervention conditions. Influence leaders of each experimental condition network will be identified, and network leaders will together attend a 5-session intervention, which will train, guide, and engage leaders to deliver theory-based, personally-tailored advice and counseling to their network members to correct misconceptions about HIV testing and care; strengthen friends' norms, attitudes, intentions, and perceived benefits of regular testing; and address barriers to testing. All members of intervention and comparison condition networks will be re-assessed at 6- and 12-month followup to determine the intervention's effects on HIV testing, regular testing, and testing- and care-related scale measures. Participants diagnosed with HIV infection at any point will be linked to medical care.
Tracking Information
- NCT #
- NCT02639754
- Collaborators
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Jeffrey A. Kelly, PhD Medical College of Wisconsin