NCT01414413

Home Assessment and Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV in Malawi

Home Assessment and Initiation of ART: a Cluster-randomised Trial in Blantyre, Malawi

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 16,660 (actual)
• Sponsor: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Despite increasing availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV in high prevalence countries, the majority of people with HIV infection still initiate treatment at an advanced stage of disease. This leads to a high risk of death soon after HIV diagnosis. Prompt HIV diagnosis is, therefore, necessary for both individual and public health benefit and is being strongly promoted as international and national policy in Malawi. However timely HIV diagnosis may not in itself be sufficient to ensure ART initiation: this is reflected by the relatively high proportion of individuals who defer treatment-seeking for months or years following diagnosis of HIV. Here the researchers investigate the extent to which home assessment and initiation of ART adds to the effectiveness of a home-based HIV testing and counseling strategy, using entry to, adherence with, and retention in HIV care as the outcome of interest.

Conditions

• HIV

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Home assessment and initiation of ART	Home-based ART eligibility assessment (WHO staging, CD4 count measurement and educational treatment preparation) and initiation.
OTHER	Clinic-based ART assessment and initiation	Participants who meet eligibility criteria and reside in a cluster that has been allocated to the control arm of this study will receive supported access to ART care through the primary care system for confirmation of HIV status and entry into HIV following disclosure to the resident community counsellor.

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-01-01
• Primary completion: 2012-11-01
• Completion: 2013-04-01
• First posted: 2011-08-11
• Last updated: 2014-04-07
• Results posted: 2014-04-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Malawi