Partners-based HIV Treatment for Couples Attending Antenatal Care

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Clinical Trial

Official title:

Partners-based HIV Treatment for Sero-concordant Couples Attending Antenatal Care

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03149237
• Other study ID #: 170365
• Secondary ID: R01MH113478-01
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 16, 2017
• Est. completion date: July 23, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: August 2023
• Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this R01 proposal is to evaluate the clinical impact, hypothesized mechanisms of behavior change, and cost-effectiveness of a partners-focused integrated elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (EMTCT) package comprised of: 1) antenatal care-based couples HIV testing, ART enrollment, and care for sero-concordant HIV+ expectant couples; (2) Couples-based treatment in the post-partum period; (3) Couple-based education and skills building; and (4) Treatment continuity with the support of expert-patient (peer) supporters from couples who have successfully navigated EMTCT. This innovative approach to scaling up EMTCT services, if proven feasible and effective, will be adopted in President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs to accelerate progress toward EMTCT and helping families with HIV infection live long, healthy lives.

Description:

In severely resource-limited rural settings, scale-up of services to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV (EMTCT) has failed to provide effective HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage for women in highest prevalence southern African regions. All HIV-infected pregnant women are now eligible for life-long antiretroviral therapy (ART) (Option B+), but retention among women enrolled through Option B+ programs remains sub-optimal. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) it is common for women to require male partner approval to access and remain engaged in HIV-related health services. Despite the likelihood that male involvement would improve program coverage and adherence, the evidence base for effective interventions to involve male partners in HIV testing and treatment through antenatal care (ANC) point of care is very limited. Furthermore, whether such strategies are indeed cost-effective for improving outcomes of HIV-diagnosis and treatment in pregnancy is unknown. This proposal seeks to address these key gaps in the evidence base and guide scale-up by evaluating a promising male engagement intervention ("Homens para Saúde" (HoPS)+ [Men for Health]) targeting EMTCT in Mozambique through a clinic-randomized trial. This study will engage 24 ANC clinics; 12 intervention and 12 standard of care, with 45 HIV-infected couples per clinic where currently >60% of couples attend their first ANC visit together. The planned intervention addresses social-structural and cultural factors influencing EMTCT through the creation of couples-centered integrated HIV services, including: (1) ANC-based couples HIV testing, ART enrollment, and care for sero-concordant HIV+ expectant couples; (2) Couple-based treatment in the post-partum period; (3) Couple-based education and skills building; and (4) Treatment continuity with the support of expert-patient (peer) supporters from couples who have successfully navigated EMTCT. Given that 8.0% of all pregnant women and 7.2% of their partners tested HIV-positive during ANC visits in 2015 (FGH monitoring and evaluation [M&E] data), the investigators pioneering work in Mozambique's rural Zambézia province suggests that innovative strategies are essential to engaging HIV-infected male partners in antenatal care (ANC) in order to achieve EMTCT and to improve substantially the health of the mothers. This team of Mozambican and U.S. investigators has a proven record of international HIV research success and they have specific recent experience with EMTCT cluster randomized trials, male-engagement in ANC services, and cost-effectiveness analysis of HIV programs. The specific aims of this study are: (1) To implement and evaluate the impact of male-engaged, couples-centered services on retention in care, adherence to ART, and early infant diagnosis among HIV+ pregnant women and their HIV+ male partners through a cluster-randomized control trial (RCT); (2) To investigate the impact of HoPS+ on hypothesized mechanisms of change; and (3) To use validated simulation models to evaluate cost-effectiveness of the HoPS+ intervention with the use of programmatic provincial monitoring and evaluation data and data from the trial results.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 2160
• Est. completion date: July 23, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 1, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Couples, one HIV+ pregnant woman and her infected male partner, will be eligible to participate if the woman's due date is >2 weeks from enrollment. Both persons must also be 18 years or older, able to give consent, willing to consent to an infant record search, and must agree to enroll in ART together.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Couples will not be eligible to participate in the study if the woman is not pregnant, if both persons are not HIV+, if either person is younger than 18 years, if one member of the couple is unwilling to enroll in ART or consent to the infant record search, or if one member of the couple is unable to give consent due to mental limitations.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• HIV Infections
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Couples-based services
Couples-based services, including treatment, counseling and peer mentoring in the community.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Mozambique	Minisitry of Health Health Facility	Pebane	Zambezia

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Vanderbilt University Medical Center	National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Mozambique, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Proportion of Time on Medication Among Pregnant Women	Specifically, every patient is given 30 days to pick up their medication, with a grace period of 5 days. If a patient picks up medication more than 35 days from their last pick-up, then they will be considered not on their medication from day 30 until the day of their next pick-up, at which time they will be assumed to be on medication again; this will be calculated over the course of the one-year follow-up.	12 months
Primary	Proportion of Days With Medication Among Male Partner	Proportion of days with medication (based on date of pick up and the number of pills provided by the pharmacy) among male partners	12 months