Development and Testing of a Smartphone Application to Reduce Substance Use and Sexual Risk Among Homeless Young Adults

October 11, 2016 updated by: New York State Psychiatric Institute
A pilot trial (N=60) will be conducted to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of OnTrack (a smartphone application to self-monitor substance use and sexual behaviors among homeless young adults) plus a brief motivational intervention (BMI), in comparison to treatment as usual (TAU) at Covenant House New York (CHNY) for those with substance abuse problems and who engage in risky sex. Following referral, screening, and eligibility determination, 60 participants will complete informed consent and be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) TAU or 2) OnTrack + BMI. All participants will be assessed at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks after baseline to evaluate alcohol consumption, marijuana use, HIV sexual risk behaviors, and other relevant variables.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Homeless young adults have high rates of substance abuse and HIV infection and, therefore, developing effective, acceptable, and sustainable interventions to reduce their substance abuse and sexual risk behaviors is of high public health significance.

HealthCall for Smartphone (HealthCall-S) is a smartphone application originally designed for self-monitoring of alcohol use and other HIV-related health behaviors, and receiving personalized feedback on these behaviors among urban substance-abusing HIV primary care patients. Building upon prior HealthCall-S studies, individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 homeless young adults (age 18-21 years) at Covenant House New York (CHNY), the largest provider of crisis shelter and services for homeless young adults (age 18-21 years) in NYC. The purpose of the individual interviews was to obtain reactions to various aspects of HealthCall-S and determine how it could be adapted to better suit the needs and interests of homeless young adults. HealthCall-S has since been adapted to target alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual risk behaviors among homeless young adults and renamed 'OnTrack.' A pilot trial (N=60) will be conducted to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of OnTrack plus a brief motivational intervention (BMI), in comparison to treatment as usual (TAU) at CHNY for those with substance abuse problems and who engage in risky sex. Following referral, screening, and eligibility determination, 60 participants will complete informed consent and be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) TAU or 2) OnTrack + BMI. All participants will be assessed at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks after baseline to evaluate alcohol consumption, marijuana use, HIV sexual risk behaviors, and other relevant variables.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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 York
      • New York, New York, United States
        • Covenant House New York

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 21 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-21 years of age
  • Engaged in unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex in the past year
  • Drank alcohol in the past year
  • Used marijuana on 4 or more days in past month

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Actively psychotic, suicidal, or homicidal
  • Does not speak English
  • Has a vision/hearing impairment that would preclude participation
  • Has definite plans to leave the greater New York metropolitan area within the study period

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: OnTrack + BMI
Brief motivational interview plus the use of a smartphone application to monitor alcohol and marijuana use and sexual risk behaviors.
Active Comparator: Treatment as Usual
Treatment as usual involves substance use/HIV referral and treatment as regularly offered to all participants who report substance use and sexual risk behaviors at Covenant House New York.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Alcohol use in the last 2 weeks, assessed at baseline and repeatedly so that change can be analyzed
Time Frame: Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks
As measured by number of drinks per drinking day and percentage of days abstinent.
Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks
Marijuana use in the last 2 weeks, assessed at baseline and repeatedly so that change can be analyzed
Time Frame: Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks
As measured by times used marijuana per day.
Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks
HIV sexual risk behavior in the last 2 weeks, assessed at baseline and repeatedly so that change can be analyzed
Time Frame: Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks
As measured by the number of days the respondent engaged in unprotected sex.
Baseline, 2, 4 (end of treatment), 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ronald G Thompson, Ph.D., Columbia University

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

November 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 19, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

August 21, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 12, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2016

Last Verified

October 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • #7018

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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