CyberSenga: Internet-based HIV Prevention in Uganda

June 29, 2016 updated by: Center for Innovative Public Health Research

CyberSenga: Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Prevent HIV in Ugandan Youth

The investigators propose to design and test an Internet-based HIV prevention program for adolescents in Uganda.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

HIV/AIDS is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in Uganda. Despite aggressive advances in HIV prevention efforts, recent data suggest that HIV prevalence is increasing generally, and HIV knowledge, a direct contributor to behavior, is on the decline among young people specifically as compared to a decade ago.

The Internet is a promising mode of intervention delivery in resource poor-settings because the costs associated with scaling up are minimal; dissemination online is the same if one person or 100,000 people use the program. Just as important, it provides access to important health information in a stigma-free, anonymous atmosphere. Our recent data indicate that 45% of adolescents in Mbarara, Uganda have used the Internet, 78% of whom went online at least once in the previous week. Eighty-one percent of respondents in the same survey indicated they would go to an HIV prevention web site if it existed. Based upon these data, we propose to develop a culturally appropriate, Internet-based HIV prevention program designed specifically for Ugandan adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. Our specific aims are as follows:

Specific Aim 1: Design a 6-hour, Internet-based HIV prevention program for adolescents. Content will be culturally tailored to the HIV preventive information, motivation, and behavioral skills needs of Ugandan adolescents.

Specific Aim 2: Test the intervention in a randomized controlled trial (n=500) among adolescents attending grades Secondary 1-4 (similar to US high school grades 8th - 11th) at day schools in Mbarara.

This project has the potential to develop low-cost and salable interventions to HIV transmission risk behaviors among adolescents in Uganda.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

366

Phase

  • 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

  • Uganda
      • Mbarara, Uganda
        • Internet Solutions for Kids Uganda, Limited

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

12 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Enrollment in grades Secondary 1 through 4 at a partner secondary school
  • Having used a computer or the Internet at least once in the past year
  • Not having been part of the intervention development activities
  • Caregiver informed permission and adolescent informed assent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

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 Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: CyberSenga
6-module HIV prevention program tailored for adolescents in Uganda
Behavioral: CyberSenga
Internet-based HIV prevention program
No Intervention: Control
"treatment as usual" - the sexual health education adolescents currently receive in secondary school

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sex Without a Condom as Assessed by Self-report
Time Frame: 6-months post-intervention
Unprotected sex (i.e., vaginal or anal sex without a condom) in the past three months
6-months post-intervention
Sexual Abstinence
Time Frame: 6-months post-intervention
Not having had vaginal or anal sex in the past three months
6-months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Abstinence at Three-month Follow-up
Time Frame: 3 months post-intervention
Sexual abstinence (i.e., not having vaginal or anal sex) in the past 90 days
3 months post-intervention
Unprotected Sex at Three-month Follow-up
Time Frame: 3 months post-intervention
Ever had vaginal or anal sex without a condom in the past 90 days
3 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Center for Innovative Public Health Research

Collaborators

University of Colorado, Denver
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Harvard University
Mbarara University of Science and Technology
Internet Solutions for Kids Uganda, Limited

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Michele Ybarra, MPH PhD, Center for Innovative Public Health

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

Helpful Links

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

August 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 20, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

May 21, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 11, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 29, 2016

Last Verified

June 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ISK-NIH-MH080662
  • 5R01MH080662 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Study Data/Documents

  1. Intervention website
  2. Informed Consent Form
    Information comments: All study documents (consent form, surveys, etc) are available for free download at the study site

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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