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Bazazi AR, Wickersham JA, Wegman MP, Culbert GJ, Pillai V, Shrestha R, Al-Darraji H, Copenhaver MM, Kamarulzaman A, Altice FL. Design and implementation of a factorial randomized controlled trial of methadone maintenance therapy and an evidence-based behavioral intervention for incarcerated people living with HIV and opioid dependence in Malaysia. Contemp Clin Trials 2017; 59:1-12. [PMID: 28479216 DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2017.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Revised: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Incarcerated people living with HIV and opioid dependence face enormous challenges to accessing evidence-based treatment during incarceration and after release into the community, placing them at risk of poor HIV treatment outcomes, relapse to opioid use and accompanying HIV transmission risk behaviors. Here we describe in detail the design and implementation of Project Harapan, a prospective clinical trial conducted among people living with HIV and opioid dependence who transitioned from prison to the community in Malaysia from 2010 to 2014. This trial involved 2 interventions: within-prison initiation of methadone maintenance therapy and an evidence-based behavioral intervention adapted to the Malaysian context (the Holistic Health Recovery Program for Malaysia, HHRP-M). Individuals were recruited and received the interventions while incarcerated and were followed for 12months after release to assess post-release HIV transmission risk behaviors and a range of other health-related outcomes. Project Harapan was designed as a fully randomized 2×2 factorial trial where individuals would be allocated in equal proportions to methadone maintenance therapy and HHRP-M, methadone maintenance therapy alone, HHRP-M alone, or control. Partway through study implementation, allocation to methadone maintenance therapy was changed from randomization to participant choice; randomization to HHRP-M continued throughout. We describe the justification for this study; the development and implementation of these interventions; changes to the protocol; and screening, enrollment, treatment receipt, and retention of study participants. Logistical, ethical, and analytic issues associated with the implementation of this study are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander R Bazazi
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Jeffrey A Wickersham
- Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University Malaya, Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Martin P Wegman
- Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University of Florida College of Medicine, Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Gabriel J Culbert
- Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, Department of Health Systems Science, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Veena Pillai
- Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University Malaya, Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Roman Shrestha
- University of Connecticut Health Center, Department of Community Medicine & Health Care, Farmington, CT, USA; University of Connecticut, Department of Allied Health Sciences, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Haider Al-Darraji
- University Malaya, Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Centre for International Health, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - Michael M Copenhaver
- University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, Department of Health Systems Science, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Adeeba Kamarulzaman
- Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University Malaya, Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Frederick L Altice
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, AIDS Program, New Haven, CT, USA; University Malaya, Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Role of community-level factors across the treatment cascade: a critical review. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2014; 66 Suppl 3:S311-8. [PMID: 25007202 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0000000000000234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Addressing community-level factors (CLFs) is integral to the ongoing effort to design multilevel, effective, and sustainable interventions to address each element of the HIV/AIDS treatment cascade. This review, the first critical review of this topic, identified 100 articles that (1) assessed CLFs in relation to the HIV/AIDS treatment cascade, (2) had been peer-reviewed, and (3) were based on studies conducted in low- or middle-income countries. Social support and social networks, cultural norms, gender norms, and stigma were the key CLFs associated with treatment and care. This extensive review found only 5 evaluations of interventions designed to affect CLFs, reflecting a major gap in the literature. All were communication interventions designed to create a more positive environment for HIV testing and access to treatment and care, thus pointing to some of the potential extraindividual effects of communication interventions. The qualitative data are rich and vital for understanding the context; yet, more quantitative analysis to provide evidence regarding the distribution of these factors is essential, as only 19 of the studies were quantitative. There is a pressing need to (1) collect community-level data, (2) validate social and gender norm scales, and (3) better use available data regarding social norms, gender norms, and other CLFs. These data could be aggregated at the cluster, neighborhood, or community levels and incorporated into multilevel analysis to help clarify the pathways to enhanced outcomes across the treatment cascade and thereby mitigate HIV sequelae.
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Wolfe D, Carrieri MP, Shepard D. Treatment and care for injecting drug users with HIV infection: a review of barriers and ways forward. Lancet 2010; 376:355-66. [PMID: 20650513 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60832-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 324] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
We review evidence for effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for injecting drug users (IDUs) infected with HIV, with particular attention to low-income and middle-income countries. In these countries, nearly half (47%) of all IDUs infected with HIV are in five nations--China, Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, and Malaysia. In all five countries, IDU access to ART is disproportionately low, and systemic and structural obstacles restrict treatment access. IDUs are 67% of cumulative HIV cases in these countries, but only 25% of those receiving ART. Integration of ART with opioid substitution and tuberculosis treatment, increased peer engagement in treatment delivery, and reform of harmful policies--including police use of drug-user registries, detention of drug users in centres offering no evidence-based treatment, and imprisonment for possession of drugs for personal use--are needed to improve ART coverage of IDUs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Wolfe
- Open Society Institute, International Harm Reduction Development Program, New York, NY 10019, USA.
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