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CompletedNCT03201510Updated Mar 27, 2025

Feasibility of HIV Prevention Cohort Studies Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Sub-Saharan Africa

An observational study in HIV, sponsored by HIV Prevention Trials Network. Completed at 4 sites in 3 countries. Open to male participants aged 18 Years to 44 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-27.

Sponsored by HIV Prevention Trials Network · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
401
Ages
18 Years to 44 Years
Sex
Male
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Study summary

This study aims to determine the feasibility of recruiting and retaining men who have sex with men (MSM) in a multi-country prospective cohort study in preparation for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention studies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Read the detailed description

HPTN 075 is an observational cohort study. Participants will be accrued over six months at four sites in SSA using convenience sampling strategies, with no replacement for participants lost to follow-up. Each participant will be followed for 12 months, during which five study visits involving structured HIV behavioral assessments, medical examinations, and collection of biological samples will be conducted (including enrollment and quarterly follow-up visits). Participants who do not complete 12 months of follow-up will be contacted to explore reasons for no longer participating.

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Conditions studied

  • HIV
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In context

Lead sponsor

HIV Prevention Trials Network is the lead sponsor of 24 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 44 Years
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Men, regardless of HIV infection status, aged 18-44 years living in SSA who report anal sex with a man in the past 3 months.

Inclusion criteria

  • Biologically male at birth, according to self-report;
  • 18-44 years old (inclusive);
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent;
  • Willing to undergo HIV testing throughout the study and to receive those test results;
  • Reporting at least one act of anal intercourse in the previous 3 months (12 weeks) with a person reported by the participant to be biologically male;
  • Able to provide complete locator identification for themselves and at least two other personal contacts;
  • Willing to participate in all scheduled study assessments, including specimen collection, laboratory assessments, and sample storage;
  • Committing to not participate in any HIV intervention or vaccine study while participating in HPTN 075;
  • Planning to remain in the study area for at least one year;
  • For HIV-uninfected men: All HIV test results at the Screening visit must be non-reactive/negative;
  • For HIV-infected men (up to 20 per site): All HIV test results at the Screening visit must be reactive/positive.

Men who are already on PrEP will not be excluded. Additionally, self- or other-identified transgender women and male sex workers will not be excluded. There will, however, be no specific effort to recruit these groups.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unwilling to adhere to study procedures;
  • Past or current participation in a biomedical and/or behavioral HIV/STI intervention or cohort study, including HIV vaccine studies; however, participation in local/area PrEP demonstration projects does not preclude participation in HPTN 075;
  • HIV-infected men who report that they are already on ART or in HIV care;
  • Any other reason or condition that in the opinion of the Investigator of Record (IOR) would interfere with participation, complicate interpretation of study outcome data, or otherwise interfere with achieving the study objectives.
  • Men who have discordant HIV test results at Screening (i.e., at least one reactive or positive result and at least one non-reactive or negative result). These men will receive HIV counseling and will be referred for further diagnostic tests and care.
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Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
401 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples without dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Observational

    Observational study

    Other: Observational

Interventions

  • OtherObservational

    HPTN 075 is an observational study in sub-Saharan MSM

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Recruitment of approximately 400 participants

    all 4 sites must collectively recruit 400 participants

    Time frame: July 2015-July 2016

  2. Retention of approximately 400 participants

    at least 90% of participants must be retained

    Time frame: July 2015-July 2016

Secondary outcomes

  1. HIV incidence

    Measured by HIV RNA from plasma samples

    Time frame: July 2015-July 2017

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Study locations

4 sites
  • Kisumu
    Kisumu, 40100, Kenya
  • Johns Hopkins Project
    Blantyre, Chichiri, Malawi
  • Groote Schuur
    Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
  • PHRU
    Soweto, Gauteng 2193, South Africa
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References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and informed consent form · Nov 15, 2016

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 27, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03201510
Lead sponsor
HIV Prevention Trials Network
Collaborators
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 28, 2017
Start date
Jun 12, 2015
Primary completion
Aug 12, 2017
Completion
Aug 12, 2017
Last update
Mar 27, 2025

Study contacts

Theodorus Sandfort, PhD
study chair · Columbia University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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