An interventional study of A social media based intervention in Adolescent Behavior, sponsored by Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Recruiting at 1 site in Uganda. Open to participants aged 15 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-18.
Sponsored by Mbarara University of Science and Technology · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
Adolescents and young adults with HIV (AYWH) aged 15- 24 years are the fastest-growing population of people living with HIV worldwide. AYWH have worse outcomes along the HIV continuum of care than adults with HIV; HIV/AIDS is the second leading cause of mortality and the fourth leading cause of disability among AYWH worldwide. This study will develop a youth-friendly, mobile health (mHealth) intervention to improve retention in care that has the potential to improve AIDS-related mortality and morbidity among AYWH and decrease onward new transmission, thus contributing towards ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Background: Of the adolescents and young adults with HIV (AYWH) who initiate in care, only about 50% remain in care at 12 months; in 2020, AYWH recorded a 50% increase in AIDS-related mortality. These poor clinical outcomes among AYWH are multi-factorial and largely influenced by their neurodevelopmental stage and differ by route of infection. Current interventions to retain AYWH in care are ineffective and do not address the neurodevelopmental issues of AYWH. Social media-based mHealth interventions may offer flexible and attractive features to AYWH to help overcome these barriers. Candidate: The goal of the proposed K43 Emerging Global Leader Award is to support The investigator's research training to attain independence as a clinician-scientist focused on improving treatment and care for AYWH in low resourced settings. The investigator is currently a research fellow at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda. The proposed study will enable training in three areas: 1) Qualitative research skills, including design, data collection, analysis and interpretation; 2) Behavioural science skills to better understand influences of adolescent behaviour and implications for mHealth-based intervention development and deployment; 3) Skills in statistical methods for clinical trials to conduct clinical trials and longitudinal data analysis. This application builds on The investigator's current clinical experience and background in epidemiology, as well as ongoing formative work in mHealth intervention development and a highly supportive, multidisciplinary team of mentors. Research: The research goals of this proposal are to develop and test a psychosocial social media-based mHealth intervention to improve retention in care of AYWH attain viral suppression, therefore decreasing AIDS-related mortality and preventing onward HIV transmission. The investigator will identify the HIV knowledge gaps, experiences, and challenges among AYWH who are new or re-engaging in HIV care, characterizing these factors by route of infection (i.e., perinatal vs non-perinatal) among AYWH in resource limited populations.
305 studies on the registry are indexed under Adolescent Behavior; 47 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 105 is below the median of 172 across 256 interventional studies indexed under Adolescent Behavior.
Browse Adolescent Behavior studies →Mbarara University of Science and Technology is the lead sponsor of 31 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The eligibility criteria is as follows:
For adolescents and young adults with (AYWH)
Exclusion criteria for AYWH 1) Inability to provide consent
For counsellors Inclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
These are the participants who will be randomised to receive the intervention at the start of the study.
Behavioral: A social media based intervention
These are participants who will not receive the intervention initially, but will move to the intervention arm after 6 months of follow-up
WatsApp-based modules to influence retention in care behaviour
The primary intervention outcome will be the acceptability, feasibility of the intervention.
Acceptability will be measured using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) and will be considered acceptable if ≥70% (35/50) of intervention participants rate all 4 items on the AIM (a 5-point Likert scale) as "agree" or higher. The intervention will be considered feasible if ≥70% (35/50) of intervention participants rate all 4 items on the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM), (a 5-point Likert scale) as "agree" or higher.
Time frame: 12 months
Retention
The secondary outcome of the intervention will be retention in care, which will be assessed at the end of 12 months. This will be defined as the proportion of participants active in care (i.e have not missed a scheduled appointment in the last 12 months) The investigators will compare the proportion of participants actively engaged in care in the immediate intervention and the deferred intervention arm.
Time frame: 12 months
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No
Started Oct 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2027, 33 months after the start.
Of 195 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Adolescent Behavior, half reached primary completion within 21 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 43. This study's planned 33 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 198 studies reached it within 20 months; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 40.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology