Starks TJ, Doyle KM, Shalhav O, John SA, Parsons JT An Examination of Gay Couples' Motivations to Use (or Forego) Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Expressed During Couples HIV Testing and Counseling (CHTC) Sessions. Prev Sci. 2019 Jan;20(1):157-167. doi: 10.1007/s11121-018-0892-7.
Starks TJ, Pawson M, Stephenson R, Sullivan P, Parsons JT Dyadic Qualitative Analysis of Condom Use Scripts Among Emerging Adult Gay Male Couples. J Sex Marital Ther. 2018 Apr 3;44(3):269-280. doi: 10.1080/0092623X.2017.1359713. Epub 2017 Aug 25.
Starks TJ, Robles G, Bosco SC, Doyle KM, Dellucci TV Relationship functioning and substance use in same-sex male couples. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Aug 1;201:101-108. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.04.009. Epub 2019 May 23.
Addressing Substance Use Through Couples Voluntary Counseling and Testing (CVCT)
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.