NCT05165810

Evaluation of Multiple Interventions to Improve HIV Treatment Outcomes Among People Who Inject Drugs in India

Evaluation of Multiple Interventions to Improve HIV Treatment Outcomes Among People Who Inject Drugs in India: a Randomized Factorial Trial With a Randomized Adaptive Component for Those Experiencing Early Treatment Failure

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 800 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this study is to improve HIV care outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) in India. The study will implement a two-phase trial to evaluate whether HIV treatment outcomes (HIV viral suppression) in HIV infected PWID can be improved with three different interventions: i) by offering a faster treatment start time (same-day antiretroviral therapy \[ART\] initiation vs. standard), ii) by provided community-based HIV care in PWID-focused centers (vs. centralized government-based HIV care) and, iii) providing an enhanced adherence support to participants who experience treatment failure at six months (vs. routine adherence support). The investigators hypothesize that faster access to ART and HIV treatment in PWID-focused community sites will lead to higher levels of initiation and retention to ART compared with standard care; and use of enhanced navigation and psychosocial support to patients who experience treatment failure at six months will lead to improved viral suppression compared with routine adherence support.

Detailed description

People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk for HIV infection and experience worse antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes than other key populations, particularly in low and middle income countries (LMIC). India has the largest number of opioid users in the world, and new injection drug epidemics have emerged in the North and Central regions of the country. In phase 1, the investigators will evaluate two structural interventions to improve treatment outcomes among HIV-positive PWID in India. First, same-day ART (initiating ART on the day of HIV diagnosis/confirmation rather than waiting until standard evaluations are completed in an HIV clinic), was found to increase viral suppression rates in African studies with generalized HIV epidemics, but has not been evaluated in PWID. The second intervention is community-based HIV care. At present, all publicly-financed HIV treatment is provided at designated government ART centers. In prior work, the investigators found that PWID-centric integrated care centers (ICCs) were effective at engaging the population and increasing HIV testing uptake and were rated favorably by clients in anonymous surveys. ICCs linked HIV-positive PWID to government clinics, but were not equipped to provide primary HIV care. However, ICCs can be scaled-up to provide HIV treatment on-site and the investigators hypothesize this will improve initiation and retention to ART among PWID. The investigators will use a randomized factorial design to determine the individual and joint effects of same-day ART initiation and community-based HIV care. The primary outcome of the phase-1 trial is viral suppression at 6 months, with longer term follow-up to 18 months. In phase 2, the investigators will evaluate a psychosocial/navigation intervention (enhanced adherence support) among participants who experience treatment failure during the first trial phase, defined as non-suppressed HIV RNA at the 6-month visit. These participants will be randomly assigned (in a second randomization) to enhanced adherence support or routine adherence support. The primary outcome of phase-2 will be viral suppression 6 months following the second randomization (12 months from enrollment in phase-1).

Conditions

• HIV Infections

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Same-day ART initiation [experimental]	Participants assigned to same-day ART initiation will be offered standard, first-line ART on the day of trial enrollment. Participants, will be provided with focused counseling and instructions on where to follow-up for ongoing HIV care (either community-based HIV care or government-based HIV care, depending on randomization).
BEHAVIORAL	Standard ART initiation [usual care]	Participants randomized to standard ART initiation will not initiate ART on the day of trial enrollment, but only after linking to their assigned source of HIV care (either community-based HIV care or government-based HIV care, depending on randomization). In standard ART initiation, patients typically, complete an intake visit at the HIV clinic, with baseline laboratory testing, and return to the clinic approximately 2 weeks later to begin ART.
OTHER	Community-based HIV care [experimental]	Participants randomized to community-based HIV care will be referred to PWID-focused integrated care centers (ICCs) for ongoing HIV clinical management - a prototype of decentralized HIV care in India. ICCs will provide free HIV care that will adhere closely to Indian HIV treatment guidelines and, when relevant, to local HIV treatment standards.
OTHER	Government-based HIV care [usual care]	Participants randomized to government-based HIV care will be referred to government-based HIV clinics for ongoing HIV clinical management. Government-based clinics provide free HIV care that adheres closely to Indian HIV treatment guidelines
BEHAVIORAL	Enhanced adherence support [experimental]	Participants who i) experience virologic failure after 6 months in the study and ii) are randomized to enhanced adherence support will receive an intensive, tailored adherence intervention lasting a maximum of 6 months, with two components: 1) tracking and outreach, and 2) psychosocial support and navigation. These will aim to equip PWID with skills to independently manage their ART using motivational interviewing and strengths-based case management.
BEHAVIORAL	Routine adherence support [usual care]	Participants who i) experience virologic failure after 6 months in the study and ii) are randomized to routine adherence support will receive a guideline-based, HIV clinic-based adherence counselling intervention lasting a maximum of 6 months

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-03-09
• Primary completion: 2025-12-17
• Completion: 2026-05-01
• First posted: 2021-12-21
• Last updated: 2026-04-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: India