Social Media for ART Adherence and Retention in Adolescents and Young Adults: the Vijana-SMART Study

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title:

Social Media for ART Adherence and Retention in Adolescents and Young Adults: the Vijana-SMART Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05634265
• Other study ID #: STUDY00002554
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 31, 2019
• Est. completion date: December 14, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: November 2022
• Source: University of Washington
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this study is to investigate whether a virtual peer support group improves ART knowledge, adherence, and mental health in youth living with HIV in Kenya.

Description:

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV show lower ART adherence, higher loss to follow-up and higher AIDS-related mortality than other age groups. Innovative approaches are needed that address AYA's unique needs and improve their adherence and retention in HIV care. There is evidence that peer support and mobile messaging with healthcare workers (HCW) are two strategies that may be effective in this group, but their evaluation has been limited and no interventions have combined them. Since 2014, youth-run virtual support groups have spontaneously started at HIV clinics, using the mobile social media application WhatsApp. These groups present valuable case studies from which the proposed project will develop a structured social media intervention that combines peer and HCW support to improve ART adherence and retention, guided by the preferences of AYA. The SPECIFIC AIMS are to (1) Characterize the existing WhatsApp groups through in-depth interviews with members and detailed content analysis of the group's communications during a 6-week observation period. This will define the elements and features desired by AYA in a social media intervention. (2) Guided by findings from Aim 1, behavioral theory, and the study team's ongoing research on mobile messaging to improve ART adherence, to develop and refine structured content for a reproducible WhatsApp intervention that incorporates peer and HCW interaction. (3) Pilot the structured intervention for 6 months in another clinic and evaluate its impact on intermediate outcomes ART knowledge, depression and stigma.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 55
• Est. completion date: December 14, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: December 14, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 14 Years to 24 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Living with HIV

• On ART

• Aware of HIV status

• Has access to WhatsApp

• Literate

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Adherence, Medication
• Depression
• HIV-1-infection

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Vijana-SMART
The Vijana-SMART intervention is a facilitated peer group, delivered through WhatsApp. Intervention messages were developed based on findings from formative interviews and social support theory, which posits that individuals experience social support through informational, instrumental, companionship and emotional forms. Groups will have approximately 25 members and will be facilitated by a study team member, by sending weekly scheduled messages, answering participant questions, and encouraging group discussion. Intervention messages were designed based on guidance from formative interviews; topics include ART adherence, medication side effects, nutritional practices, depression, social support, HIV status disclosure, stigma, positive prevention, substance use, and contraception.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Kenya	Kayole	Nairobi

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Washington

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Kenya, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	ART information, motivation, behavioral skills	Self-reported score on abbreviated Lifewindows IMB instrument	6 months
Primary	Social support	Self-reported score on SS-B instrument	6 months
Primary	Stigma	Self-reported score on abbreviated ALHIV-SS instrument	6 months
Primary	ART adherence	Self-reported score on Wilson 3-item scale	6 months
Primary	Depression symptoms	Self-reported score on PHQ-9 scale	6 months
Primary	Resilience	Self-reported score on abbreviated Connor-Davidson scale	6 months