Hepatitis C, HIV, Risk Reduction Behavior
Conditions
Keywords
Testing, Access
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to test an intervention designed to train persons who inject drugs (PWID) and are infected with hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV in communication skills to 1) promote new HCV treatment and care 2) risk reduction and 3) recruit their social network members for HIV and HCV testing and linkage to care.
Detailed description
The investigators propose recruiting 300 HIV/HCV co-infected PWID (i.e. Index participants). Half will be randomly assigned to the experimental condition and half to the equal attention comparison. The experimental intervention will include 8 group sessions that focus on communication to social network members, medical adherence and risk reduction skills, 2 dyad sessions with network members, monthly booster sessions for 6 months, and mHealth cuing of behavior for 6 months. These Index participants will be followed for 24 months (3, 6, 12, 18, & 24 month assessments). Participants who test positive for HCV will be linked to the Johns Hopkins Viral Hepatitis clinic to assess liver function and HCV chronicity and if applicable offered HCV treatment. Additionally, 450 network members will be recruited and will be tested for HIV and HCV and followed longitudinally to examine the social diffusion and social network factors associated with adherence among the Index participants.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPeer Mentor
comparison of communication training to equal attention control
Sponsors
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 55 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* HCV antibody positive * HIV antibody positive * lifetime history of injection drug use * interrupted HIV care:\>3 months since HIV care or detectable viral load * willingness to participate in group sessions and have conversations with social network members
Exclusion criteria
\- participated in a behavioral intervention in prior 2 years
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Continuity in HIV care scale | 24 months | — |
| Access to HCV care scale | 24 months | Initiation of HCV care at a viral hepatitis clinic |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| HIV medication adherence scale | 24 months |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed