Asha HIV Health Promotion Intervention in India

September 26, 2016 updated by: Adeline Nyamathi, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

ASHA HIV Health Promotion Intervention in India

The purpose of this randomized pilot study was to conduct an intervention with 68 rural women living with AIDS to compare the effectiveness of two different programs on compliance with HIV/AIDS treatment regimens, improvement in knowledge about HIV/AIDS and TB, improvement in psychological distress, reduction in stigma; satisfaction with care provided to family members, reduction in number of opportunistic infections, increase in CD4 levels and completion of the designed Asha-Life (AL) program. The trial was designed to assess the impact of the Asha-Life (AL) intervention engaging with an HIV-trained village woman, Asha (Accredited Social Health Activist), to participate in the care of women living with AIDS (WLA), along with other health care providers compared to a Usual Care group. Two high prevalence HIV/AIDS villages in rural Andhra Pradesh, which were demographically alike and served by distinct Public Health Centers, were selected randomly from a total of 16 villages.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This Community health study was conducted in two phases:

Phase I was initiated with the establishment of a Community Advisory Board (CAB) composed of 10 persons including WLA, Ashas, and health care providers consisting of Nurse Midwives, HIV and TB experts selected from a Primary Care Clinic in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The CAB considered issues related to stigma, disclosure, and psycho-socio-cultural factors affecting the health-seeking behaviors of WLA. They also analyzed the strategies that Asha could employ to support WLA in optimizing their health and well-being and that of their families. This was followed by focus groups conducted separately with the same type of participants. Eligibility criteria included WLA who were currently on ART, were 16-45 years of age, and were able to provide informed consent.

Phase II: A randomized control trial-pilot study was completed in Year 3. We assessed the outcomes of 34 WLA who participated in the AL program at six-month follow-up, as compared with 34 WLA in the Usual Care (UC) Program; in terms of: a) compliance with HIV/AIDS and/or TB treatment regimens (HIV/AIDS/TB), b) improvement in knowledge about HIV/AIDS/TB, c) improvement in psychological distress, d) reduction in stigma, e) reduction in number of opportunistic infections (OIs), f) increase in CD4 levels, and g) completion of the program. The intervention incorporated a comprehensive education and skills program to which we added high protein supplements (1 kg of Black Gram and 1 kg of Toor Dal/month for the AL group vs. a basic program including 1 kg of Channa Dal/month for the UC group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

68

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • New Delhi, India
        • Indian Counsel of Medical Research

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women living with HIV
  • Ages 18-45
  • Interfacing with an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)
  • Receiving ART or eligible for receiving ART
  • HIV Positive status
  • CD4 cells ≥ 100
  • Not a participant of Phase 1

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitively impaired, not a participant of Phase 1

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: ASHA Life
6-session educational group discussing HIV prevention, anti-retroviral therapy (ART), coping enhancement, nutrition, parenting and life skills.
6-session education groups discussing HIV prevention, anti-retroviral therapy (ART), coping enhancement, nutrition, parenting and life skills
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Usual Care
3-session educational group focusing on HIV prevention, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and parenting.
3 session educational group focusing on HIV prevention, anti-retroviral therapy and parenting

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Conduct a randomized clinical pilot study with 70 women living with HIV in India.
Time Frame: 2 years
2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Acceptability of the intervention by the women living with HIV.
Time Frame: 2 years
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Adeline Nyamathi, PhD, The Regents of the University of California

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2008

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

March 1, 2011

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 11, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 11, 2009

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 12, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 28, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2016

Last Verified

September 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • G071208102
  • 1 R34 MH082662:01R

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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