HIV Infections
Conditions
Brief summary
This study will create and follow an online cohort of sexual and gender minorities in Brazil to better understand the use of HIV prevention and treatment strategies, particularly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and antiretroviral treatment (ART). Participants will complete online questionnaires at the beginning of the study and every three months for one year to provide information about medication use and adherence, sexual behaviors, HIV prevention and testing, sexually transmitted infections, mental health, and experiences of discrimination in health services. Participants who are using PrEP or ART and agree to take part in the intervention will be randomly assigned to receive either a digital intervention or no digital intervention. The digital intervention will consist of weekly WhatsApp messages for six months, including reminders and information intended to support adherence to PrEP or ART. The main question of the study is whether weekly WhatsApp messages can improve adherence to PrEP or ART among sexual and gender minorities in Brazil. The study hypothesis is that participants who receive the digital intervention will have higher adherence to PrEP or ART than participants who do not receive the intervention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWeekly WhatsApp Adherence Messages
Participants randomized to the intervention arm will receive weekly WhatsApp messages for 6 months designed to support adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or antiretroviral therapy (ART). Messages will include medication reminders and brief, standardized information related to HIV prevention and treatment. Messages will be delivered through a scheduled automated system.
Sponsors
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
male sex assigned at birth and identifying as a man, travesti, transgender person, or non-binary person; age ≥18 years; residing in Brazil; access to the internet; and self-reporting sex with a man in the past 12 months.
Exclusion criteria
incorrectly answering the attention-check questions; and incomplete responses, defined as not reaching the end of the screening questionnaire
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Medication Adherence to PrEP or ART | Baseline and Months 3, 6, 9, and 12 | Medication adherence will be assessed using a visual analog scale in which participants report the percentage of prescribed PrEP or ART doses taken during the previous 30 days, from 0% to 100%. Participants reporting adherence greater than 95% will be classified as adherent. The primary analysis will compare the proportion of participants classified as adherent between the weekly WhatsApp intervention and control groups over follow-up. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Medication Adherence to PrEP | Baseline and Months 3, 6, 9, and 12 | Self-reported adherence to PrEP during the previous 30 days, measured using a 0% to 100% visual analog scale. Participants reporting adherence greater than 95% will be classified as adherent. Adherence will be evaluated over follow-up and compared between intervention and control groups among participants using PrEP. |
Countries
Brazil
Contacts
CONTACTThiago S Torres, PhD
Outcome results
None listed