Empower, Nudge: Increasing Dual Protection in South Africa (EN)

July 19, 2021 updated by: Omar Galarraga, PhD, Brown University

Empower, Nudge: Increasing Dual Protection Among Young Women in South Africa

The purpose of the study is to test feasibility and acceptability of a lottery to help women in Cape Town, South Africa to continue using long-acting reversible contraceptives to avoid unintended pregnancies, and to also use condoms to reduce sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The overall objective is to implement a pilot project offering conditional economic incentives (CEI) for dual protection (the prevention of HIV or other sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy via the simultaneous use of condoms plus effective contraception) among young women in Cape Town, South Africa, to test feasibility and acceptability, and to gather preliminary evidence on effect sizes to inform a future efficacy trial. CEI are an innovative structural approach for dual protection, which so far has not been tested in generalized HIV epidemic settings. The project has three aims. First, it will test the feasibility and acceptability of a conditional economic incentive (CEI) program to incentivize dual protection among young women in Cape Town. The working hypothesis is that a program with modest economic incentives in the form of a lottery to continue using modern contraception and stay free of sexually transmitted infections (STI) can be implemented among young women who express a desire to avoid unintended pregnancies. The hypothesis is that the CEI treatment group will exhibit greater program participation and retention rates as compared to the control group. Second, the study will obtain estimates of the effect of CEI on the primary outcomes (adherence to the dual protection regimen) through: (1) continuation of a contraceptive method of choice throughout the six month study period, and (2) self-reported condom use. Contraceptive continuation will be measured via clinic records (proxy for clinical checkup) at the 3 and 6 month follow up visits. Self-reported condom use will not be used to provide any incentives. The hypothesis is that receipt of CEI (lotteries) will be associated with higher rates of dual protection. Third, the study will examine the degree to which CEI (lotteries) impact secondary outcomes: a urine pregnancy test and STI status (measured at baseline and 6 month follow up). A selected STI (syphilis) will be monitored for assessment of the STI outcome, using a rapid test that can be administered at clinic level. The working hypothesis is that the participants in the CEI (lottery) treatment group will have reduced rates of STI and they will have lower rates of pregnancy.

This pilot trial will include young women, ages 18-40, recruited from a community clinic in Cape Town. A maximum of 96 women will be randomly assigned to one of two arms (n=48 each) in a randomized controlled trial design. In the trial, Arm 1 (control) will receive transport compensation for study visits at each of the study visits at baseline and at months 3 and 6. Arm 2 (intervention) will receive transport compensation for study visits at each visit at baseline and at months 3 and 6, plus the opportunity for entry in a lottery. Participants in Arm 2 will have a chance to receive two lottery tickets: (a) the first when returning by month 3, subject to confirmation of continued use of the participant's preferred contraceptive; (b) the second upon completion of the six month study period, subject to confirmation of continued use of the participant's preferred contraceptive over the course of the 6 month study period; and if they are free of a new curable STI. The lottery tickets will enter the participant into a drawing for a prize at month 3 and at the end of the six month study period. All participants will receive transport compensation each time at baseline, month 3 and month 6. There will be 15-20 minute follow-up sessions for everyone at months 3 and 6 when receiving STI results, and CEI (lotteries) for those in the treatment group. At month 3, follow-up sessions will include some reinforcement of key messages related to dual protection. At months 3 and 6, the follow-up sessions will include administration of the study questionnaire.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

100

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

  • South Africa
    • Western Cape
      • Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
        • Lady Michaelis Community Health Clinic

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 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female
  • ages 18-40 years
  • Has been pregnant within the last 12 months (and has either delivered a baby, had a miscarriage, or an abortion within the last 12 months).
  • Has chosen one of the following contraceptive methods: IUD, Implant, or injectable

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unwillingness to sign an informed consent to participate in research
  • Unwillingness to participate in the Control group, if so assigned in the randomization

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: Lottery

Conditional economic incentive (CEI) lotto arm participants will get a chance to win a type of lottery or "lotto" ticket with a 50% chance of winning each time: (a) if they come back to the clinic and are still using a modern contraception method after 3 months (including IUD, injectable contraceptive, or implant); (b) if they come back to the clinic and are still using modern contraception after 6 months; and (c) if they come back to the clinic at 6 months and they don't have a new curable STD (such as syphilis).

They will also will receive reimbursement to cover their transport and time at baseline, at 3 months and at 6 months.
Other: Lottery
Opportunity for entry in lottery (each time, at months 3 and 6).
Other Names:
  • Lotto; Empower Lotto Bowl
Active Comparator: No Lottery
Participants in the Control (No CEI Lotto) group will receive reimbursement to cover their transport and time at baseline, at 3 months and at 6 months; they will NOT have a chance to win a lottery even if they are still using a modern contraception and are free of new curable STDs.
Other: No Lottery
Transport compensation for study visits at baseline and at months 3 and 6. No chance to win lottery ticket.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Retention in the study
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Long-acting contraceptive continuation
Time Frame: 6 months
continuation of a contraceptive method of choice throughout the six month study period
6 months
Condom use
Time Frame: 6 months
Self-reported condom use (male and/or female)
6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Combined composite STDs
Time Frame: 6 months
Composite STDs (syphilis and HIV)
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Brown University

Collaborators

University of Cape Town

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Omar Galarraga, PhD, Brown University School of Public Health
  • Principal Investigator: Abigail Harrison, PhD, Brown University School of Public Health
  • Study Director: Jane Harries, PhD, University of Cape Town

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

May 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 20, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 31, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

September 1, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 23, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 19, 2021

Last Verified

July 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IIA14-68

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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