CyberSenga: Internet-based HIV Prevention in Uganda

Sexual Abstinence Clinical Trial

Official title: CyberSenga: Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Prevent HIV in Ugandan Youth

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

We propose to design and test an Internet-based HIV prevention program for adolescents in Uganda.

Clinical Trial Description

HIV/AIDS is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in Uganda. Despite aggressive advances in HIV prevention efforts, recent data suggest that HIV prevalence is increasing generally, and HIV knowledge, a direct contributor to behavior, is on the decline among young people specifically as compared to a decade ago.

The Internet is a promising mode of intervention delivery in resource poor-settings because the costs associated with scaling up are minimal; dissemination online is the same if one person or 100,000 people use the program. Just as important, it provides access to important health information in a stigma-free, anonymous atmosphere. Our recent data indicate that 45% of adolescents in Mbarara, Uganda have used the Internet, 78% of whom went online at least once in the previous week. Eighty-one percent of respondents in the same survey indicated they would go to an HIV prevention web site if it existed. Based upon these data, we propose to develop a culturally appropriate, Internet-based HIV prevention program designed specifically for Ugandan adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. Our specific aims are as follows:

Specific Aim 1: Design a 6-hour, Internet-based HIV prevention program for adolescents. Content will be culturally tailored to the HIV preventive information, motivation, and behavioral skills needs of Ugandan adolescents.

Specific Aim 2: Test the intervention in a randomized controlled trial (n=500) among adolescents attending grades Secondary 1-4 (similar to US high school grades 8th - 11th) at day schools in Mbarara.

This project has the potential to develop low-cost and scalable interventions to HIV transmission risk behaviors among adolescents in Uganda. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Condom Use
• Sexual Abstinence

• NCT number: NCT00906178
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Center for Innovative Public Health Research
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: August 2007
• Completion date: October 2011