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Feldacker C, Pienaar J, Wasunna B, Ndebele F, Khumalo C, Day S, Tweya H, Oni F, Sardini M, Adhikary B, Waweru E, Wafula MB, Dixon A, Jafa K, Su Y, Sherr K, Setswe G. Expanding the Evidence on the Safety and Efficiency of 2-Way Text Messaging-Based Telehealth for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Follow-up Compared With In-Person Reviews: Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural and Urban South Africa. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e42111. [PMID: 37159245 DOI: 10.2196/42111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is a dearth of high-quality evidence from digital health interventions in routine program settings in low- and middle-income countries. We previously conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Zimbabwe, demonstrating that 2-way texting (2wT) was safe and effective for follow-up after adult voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the replicability of 2wT, we conducted a larger RCT in both urban and rural VMMC settings in South Africa to determine whether 2wT improves adverse event (AE) ascertainment and, therefore, the quality of follow-up after VMMC while reducing health care workers' workload. METHODS A prospective, unblinded, noninferiority RCT was conducted among adult participants who underwent VMMC with cell phones randomized in a 1:1 ratio between 2wT and control (routine care) in North West and Gauteng provinces. The 2wT participants responded to a daily SMS text message with in-person follow-up only if desired or an AE was suspected. The control group was requested to make in-person visits on postoperative days 2 and 7 as per national VMMC guidelines. All participants were asked to return on postoperative day 14 for study-specific review. Safety (cumulative AEs ≤day 14 visit) and workload (number of in-person follow-up visits) were compared. Differences in cumulative AEs were calculated between groups. Noninferiority was prespecified with a margin of -0.25%. The Manning score method was used to calculate 95% CIs. RESULTS The study was conducted between June 7, 2021, and February 21, 2022. In total, 1084 men were enrolled (2wT: n=547, 50.5%, control: n=537, 49.5%), with near-equal proportions of rural and urban participants. Cumulative AEs were identified in 2.3% (95% CI 1.3-4.1) of 2wT participants and 1.0% (95% CI 0.4-2.3) of control participants, demonstrating noninferiority (1-sided 95% CI -0.09 to ∞). Among the 2wT participants, 11 AEs (9 moderate and 2 severe) were identified, compared with 5 AEs (all moderate) among the control participants-a nonsignificant difference in AE rates (P=.13). The 2wT participants attended 0.22 visits, and the control participants attended 1.34 visits-a significant reduction in follow-up visit workload (P<.001). The 2wT approach reduced unnecessary postoperative visits by 84.8%. Daily response rates ranged from 86% on day 3 to 74% on day 13. Among the 2wT participants, 94% (514/547) responded to ≥1 daily SMS text messages over 13 days. CONCLUSIONS Across rural and urban contexts in South Africa, 2wT was noninferior to routine in-person visits for AE ascertainment, demonstrating 2wT safety. The 2wT approach also significantly reduced the follow-up visit workload, improving efficiency. These results strongly suggest that 2wT provides quality VMMC follow-up and should be adopted at scale. Adaptation of the 2wT telehealth approach to other acute follow-up care contexts could extend these gains beyond VMMC. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04327271; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04327271.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caryl Feldacker
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- International Training and Education Center for Health, Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Sarah Day
- Centre for HIV-AIDS Prevention Studies (CHAPS), Johannesburg, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Hannock Tweya
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Yanfang Su
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Kenneth Sherr
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Geoffrey Setswe
- Aurum Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Health Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa
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Sha Y, Li C, Xiong Y, Hazra A, Lio J, Jiang I, Huang H, Kerman J, Molina J, Li L, Liang K, Gong D, Li Q, Wu S, Sherer R, Tucker JD, Tang W. Co-creation using crowdsourcing to promote PrEP adherence in China: study protocol for a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:1697. [PMID: 36071401 PMCID: PMC9449927 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-14117-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Adherent pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake can prevent HIV infections. Despite the high HIV incidence, Chinese key populations have low PrEP uptake and adherence. New interventions are needed to increase PrEP adherence among key populations in China. Co-creation methods are helpful to solicit ideas from the community to solve public health problems. The study protocol aims to describe the design of a stepped-wedge trial and to evaluate the efficacy of co-created interventions to facilitate PrEP adherence among key populations in China. Methods The study will develop intervention packages to facilitate PrEP adherence among Chinese key populations using co-creation methods. The study will then evaluate the efficacy of the co-created intervention packages using a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial. This four-phased closed cohort stepped-wedge design will have four clusters. Each cluster will start intervention at three-month intervals. Seven hundred participants who initiated PrEP will be recruited. Participants will be randomized to the clusters using block randomization. The intervention condition includes receiving co-created interventions in addition to standard of care. The control condition is the standard of care that includes routine clinical assessment every 3 months. All participants will also receive an online follow-up survey every 3 months to record medication adherence and will be encouraged to use a WeChat mini-app for sexual and mental health education throughout the study. The primary outcomes are PrEP adherence and retention in PrEP care throughout the study period. We will examine a hypothesis that a co-created intervention can facilitate PrEP adherence. Generalized linear mixed models will be used for the primary outcome analysis. Discussion Developing PrEP adherence interventions in China faces barriers including suboptimal PrEP uptake among key populations, the lack of effective PrEP service delivery models, and insufficient community engagement in PrEP initiatives. Our study design addresses these obstacles by using co-creation to generate social media-based intervention materials and embedding the study design in the local healthcare system. The study outcomes may have implications for policy and intervention practices among CBOs and the medical system to facilitate PrEP adherence among key populations. Trial registration The study is registered in Clinical Trial databases in China (ChiCTR2100048981, July 19, 2021) and the US (NCT04754139, February 11, 2021). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14117-5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongjie Sha
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project-China, 7 Lujing Road, Guangzhou, 510091, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Chunyan Li
- Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Yuan Xiong
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project-China, 7 Lujing Road, Guangzhou, 510091, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Aniruddha Hazra
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Jonathan Lio
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Ivy Jiang
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | | | - Jared Kerman
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | | | - Linghua Li
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Number Eight People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ke Liang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Dandan Gong
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Number Eight People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Quanmin Li
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Number Eight People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Songjie Wu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Renslow Sherer
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
| | - Joseph D Tucker
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project-China, 7 Lujing Road, Guangzhou, 510091, Guangdong Province, China. .,Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. .,Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
| | - Weiming Tang
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project-China, 7 Lujing Road, Guangzhou, 510091, Guangdong Province, China. .,Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
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