A Community-Based Intervention With Popular Opinion Leaders (C-POL) in Texas

A Community-Based Intervention With Popular Opinion Leaders (C-POL) in Texas to Achieve Syphilis Elimination

After exposure to the C-POL intervention: 1) unprotected vaginal or anal sex, sex with casual partners, concurrent sexual relationships, and exchange of sex for drugs or money will decrease significantly; 2) perceived syphilis-risk for self and peer group, knowledge about highly relevant risk-factors, information sources and resources will increase significantly; and 3) syphilis morbidity will decrease significantly in the intervention community as compared to the comparison community.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Risk Behavior; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Community-Popular Opinion Leader Model; Behavioral: Diffusion of Innovations

Detailed Description

The C-POL in Texas project is and intervention study which sought to impact the health behaviors of community residents who live in zip codes that have high syphilis morbidity. The study is being implemented in Texas (Dallas and Houston) with residents of a housing developing and the surrounding community.

The intervention model used for this study is the Popular Opinion Leader (POL) model, which is effective at reducing new HIV infections. The intent of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a diffusion model (e.g. POL) at reducing syphilis infections in affected communities.

For the intervention, community members identified as popular opinion leaders were recruited and trained to share accurate information about syphilis transmission, symptoms, testing, treatment and prevention. Prior to intervention implementation and several times after, community members were given a survey and screened for syphilis as well as 2-3 additional STDs. During each assessment, cross-sections of the community members were sampled.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 1200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • College Station, Texas, United States, 77843-4243
      • Texas A& M University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Community members who live and/or frequent the affected community. The affected community was one that had significant syphilis morbidity at the onset of the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Change in syphilis prevalence in affected community.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Change in risk behaviors, and health care seeking.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Collaborators: Texas A&M University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Samantha Williams, Ph.D., CDC/NCHSTP/DSTDP/BIRB; Principal Investigator: Nilesh Chatterjee, Ph.D., Texas A&M University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2002
• Study Completion: July 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 1, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): December 2, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 2, 2005
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 1, 2005
• Last Verified: December 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Risk behavior; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Infections; Communicable Diseases; Disease Attributes; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: CDC-NCHSTP-4133; U65/CCU622269; U65/CCU622268