Optimizing PrEP Implementation and Effectiveness Among Women at High Risk for HIV Acquisition in South Africa: Phase 2b
Optimizing PrEP Implementation and Effectiveness Among Women at High Risk for HIV Acquisition in South Africa: Phase 2b
The goal of this trial is to understand which strategies work best to support pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among female sex workers (FSW) and adolescent girls and youth women (AGYW) in uMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive a combination of up to four support strategies encourage the participants in continuing to use PrEP. The four strategies being tested are: case management, food vouchers, peer support buddies, and community-based PrEP pick-up points. The intention of this trial is to determine which PrEP support strategy or bundle(s) of strategies best promote(s) long-term PrEP use, so that these services can be scaled up to other districts in South Africa.
The overall aim of this trial is to investigate which PrEP support strategies most effectively and efficiently optimize(s) PrEP persistence among female sex workers (FSW) and adolescent girls and youth women (AGYW) in South Africa. The trial will be implemented by TB HIV Care, a South African non-profit organization that provides direct HIV service delivery to FSW and AGYW across 10 districts in South Africa. The investigators plan to individually randomize 304 FSW and AGYW at the TB HIV Care site in uMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal, to a fractional factorial trial, randomizing combinations of four separate strategies to support PrEP continuation. As fthe strategies are being tested, this results in 16 different intervention/study conditions, with one condition serving as a control where FSW and AGYW will receive the standard of care and no additional PrEP support. The other 15 conditions will be a combination of the standard of care alongside different PrEP delivery and support strategies implemented by TB HIV Care: case management, food vouchers, peer support buddies, and PrEP pick-up points. The intention of this trial is to determine which PrEP support strategy or bundle(s) of strategies best promote(s) long-term PrEP use and persistence, so that these services can be scaled up to other TB HIV Care sites. By utilizing the fractional factorial design in alignment the multiphase optimization strategy framework (MOST) the trial is feasible to conduct even with 16 arms, as the design compares results in arms with and without each of the strategies, but is not fully powered to test every combination of strategies.Thus, each strategy will be received by half of the participants, though the combinations of strategies will vary.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: