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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02128087

Improving Drug Adherence Among Adolescents in Uganda Using SMS Reminders

In this project the investigators develop and test a short message service (SMS) intervention based on the Information Motivation and Behavior skills (IMB) model. Reminding Adolescents To Adhere (RATA) prompts youths at two clinics in Uganda to take their medications and offers social support via weekly text messages. The investigators propose to adapt their previous successful SMS-intervention to the specific needs of youths and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of one-way versus two-way text messages (where two-way messages allow youths to respond to messages and we hypothesize that this may increase perceived social support that may be important for youth populations). We will also test the effectiveness of SMS messages over the longer-term (2 years), for which currently no information is available.

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Key information

Conditions

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Blood-Borne Infections Communicable Diseases Genital Diseases HIV Infections Immune System Diseases Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes Infections Lentivirus Infections RNA Virus Infections Retroviridae Infections Sexually Transmitted Diseases Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral Slow Virus Diseases Urogenital Diseases Virus Diseases

Age range

15 year–24 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda

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About this study

The primary goal of the proposed study is to develop and test SMS-based text messages for improving medication adherence among HIV-positive youths in a resource-limited setting. The study will be conducted in three phases: Phase 1 will consist of qualitative interviews with patients, clinic providers and directors, and community leaders and will elicit information on barriers to treatment and adherence patterns and cognitive obstacles to adherence that may be addressed by RATA. A second focus of this phase will be to investigate the familiarity with and attitude towards SMS messages among adolescents, and their attitudes towards different aspects of these messages. Parameters of the messages that will be probed include their frequency, content, and form using Figure 1 as a guiding principle for this exploratory phase. Phase 2 will use the findings from Phase 1 to develop and implement RATA in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). A sample of 330 clients aged 15-24 who are in HIV care and show signs of problems with adherence will be recruited and randomized into one of three equal-sized intervention arms: a control group that will receive usual care, or one of two treatment groups in which participants will receive usual care and additionally will receive either two-way SMS messages or one-way SMS messages. All RATA participants will be followed for two years. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and every 6 months over the course of 24 months. Medication event monitoring system (MEMS)-caps measured medication adherence will be the primary outcome measure, while viral load (for a subset of clients) CD4 count, self-reported adherence and pharmacy refill data as well as retention in care constitute secondary outcomes. Phase 3 will be used to analyze the collected data, conduct qualitative interviews with providers, clinic administrators, and study participants to learn about implementation difficulties and areas of improvement, and to share preliminary results and project implementation insights with these key players. This stage allows evaluating the feasibility and sustainability of the intervention for potential scale-up, for which we will also conduct a relative cost-effectiveness analysis of two- versus one-way messages. RATA will be extended to the control group in Year 5 if findings from phase 2 suggest its success at improving outcomes.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • age 15-24
  • have been in HIV care at the clinic for at least three months
  • are currently taking HIV-related medication (ART or co-trimoxazole)
  • have demonstrated adherence problems (defined as having missed at least one medication dose per week on average)
  • either own a phone or have regular access to one
  • intend to stay at the clinic for the study period
  • are not in boarding school (where phones are forbidden)

Exclusion criteria

  • does not speak or understand either English or Luganda

Treatment and study plan

Two-way SMS intervention

Behavioral

Clients will receive a weekly two-way SMS, meaning that the clients in this group will receive the same message as in the one-way SMS study arm, but in addition will be asked how they feel. Clients are required to either press 1 or respond "well" or press 2 or write 'Unwell" in response in the language of their choice within 48 hours. A missing response after 48 hours triggers a second SMS to remind the client to respond. If after 24 more hours the participant still does not respond or if at any point s/he responds "unwell" then the study coordinator will follow up with a call within 24 hours.

One-way SMS intervention group

Behavioral

Clients will receive a weekly one-way SMS message. There will be no prompt for any response.

Primary outcomes

  1. Medication adherence rates using electronically monitored adherence (MEMS cap) data

    Time frame: 6 months after enrollment

    Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)-cap data will be collected continuously over the course of the 24-month study period allowing us to investigate daily adherence and its timing. MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the primary outcome variable of adherence (# of actual bottle openings / # of prescribed bottle openings).

  2. Medication adherence rates using electronically monitored adherence (MEMS cap) data

    Time frame: 12 months after enrollment

    Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)-cap data will be collected continuously over the course of the 24-month study period allowing us to investigate daily adherence and its timing. MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the primary outcome variable of adherence (# of actual bottle openings / # of prescribed bottle openings).

  3. Medication adherence rates using electronically monitored adherence (MEMS cap) data

    Time frame: 24 months after enrollment

    Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)-cap data will be collected continuously over the course of the 24-month study period allowing us to investigate daily adherence and its timing. MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the primary outcome variable of adherence (# of actual bottle openings / # of prescribed bottle openings).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Fraction of clients displaying adherence of 90% or more

    Time frame: At 6, 12, 18 and 24 months

    MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the secondary outcome measures of fraction of clients displaying adherence of 90% or more.

  2. Indicator for treatment interruptions of more than 48 hours

    Time frame: At 6, 12, 18 and 24 months

    MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the secondary outcome measures of an indicator for treatment interruptions of more than 48 hours.

  3. Viral load assays

    Time frame: At month 12

    A randomized subset of 30 clients from each intervention arm (90 total) will measure viral load assays at month 12.

  4. Self-reported adherence

    Time frame: At baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months

    We will ask about number of missed doses over the past 7 days. Adherence is calculated as a proportion of prescribed doses taken.

  5. Pharmacy Refill Adherence

    Time frame: Months 6, 12, 18 and 24

    All patients on ART receive their medications in 30-day supplies from the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) and Mildmay clinic pharmacies. For clients on co-trimoxazole, the drugs are typically dispensed in units of 90 count. We will adjust the measure according to the refill period specific to each client. A composite continuous multiple interval measure of medication availability or refill rate will be calculated (# of pills dispensed/ # pills prescribed per day)/ days between refills.

  6. Clinic Attendance

    Time frame: Continuous over 24 months

    Attendance at regularly scheduled clinic visits as part of usual care will be tracked for all participants from the electronic client database and will be available in real-time to the study coordinator.

  7. Cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count

    Time frame: Occasionally over 24 months

    CD4 counts will be chart abstracted from the clinic data; they are typically taken about every six months

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

RAND

Other

Registry information

Acronym: RATA

Important dates

Study start
2013
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2017
First posted
May 1, 2014
Registry last updated
Apr 14, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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