Supporting Adolescents to Adhere - an Intervention Using Airtime Rewards Allocated by a Prize Drawing (SATA)

February 15, 2018 updated by: RAND

This study is an extension of Reminding Adolescents to Adhere (RATA) (Unique protocol ID: 1R01HD074925-01). Participants for SATA will be recruited during the RATA month 24 exit survey.

Participants will be randomized 1:1:1 into either one of two intervention group (receiving the weekly messages and a chance to draw a prize at each clinic visit based on either a fixed adherence level of 90% or a self-chosen one of at least 80% as further detailed below) or the control group that receives the existing RATA intervention consisting of weekly motivational messages and the chance to get mobile airtime rewards conditional on responding. Doing so will allow the investigators to cleanly evaluate the impact of these additional adherence-based lotteries, and guarantees that those who have been in the control group receiving standard of care in the first 24 months of the RATA intervention will also receive an intervention for reasons of fairness.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

  • For Group 1 (lottery reward with fixed target): Study coordinators check participant's MEMS extraction for last month's adherence. Study coordinators then tell participants of the participants' adherence in the last month. Participants are also informed that during the next clinic visit, if they adhere at least 90 percent they have a chance to enter into a game where they have a chance of winning mobile airtime, by drawing into a bag and picking a card associated with their airtime winnings. If they do not have 90% adherence, they will not receive the airtime award game, but there will be another chance the next time they come for their scheduled clinic visit during the study period.
  • For Group 2 (lottery award with own target): Study coordinators check participant's MEMS extraction for last month's adherence. They inform participants of their adherence in the last month. In order to be eligible for an airtime reward game, during their next clinic visit they must reach their own target goal. The target adherence goal must be greater than 80%. Participants may, for example, choose 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or 100%. Again, if they meet or exceed this target they have a chance to draw into a bag to win mobile airtime. If they do not have meet this self-imposed target adherence, they will not be eligible to play the airtime award game, but there will be another chance the next time they come for their scheduled clinic visit during the study period.

During each clinic visit, participants will have their MEMS extracted and study coordinators will check for average adherence between that day and the last clinic visit. For those who have met the target, coordinators will initiate the lottery, complete the drawing procedure, or send them the airtime reward without drawing (depending on which group).

Every Sunday, study investigators will send treatment participants a motivational message to remind them about the reward. Within each of the two intervention groups, study investigators will randomly send the message either in a loss-frame or a gain-frame, i.e. an intervention participant (in either group) will some weeks receive a message telling them to keep up motivation (as a code-word for adherence) to win a prize, and some weeks telling them to make sure not to lose their chance to win a prize.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

216

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

      • Kampala, Uganda
        • Mildmay Uganda

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

16 years to 25 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • have been in HIV care at the clinic for at least three months
  • are currently taking HIV-related medication (ART or co-trimoxazole)
  • either own a phone or have regular access to one
  • intend to stay at the clinic for the study period
  • are not in boarding school (where phones are forbidden)

Exclusion Criteria:

- does not speak or understand either English or Luganda

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Own Adherence Group
Participant chooses their adherence level to be reached at next clinic visit (at least 80%, but can be higher). If they reach that percentage measured using the MEMS cap, they can participate in a lottery for an airtime reward of none, a small amount, and a larger amount. Participants also receive a weekly motivational message reminding them of their incentive to adhere. If they respond to the message they will receive airtime top-up.
Participant chooses their adherence level to be reached at next clinic visit (at least 80%, but can be higher). If they reach that percentage measured using the MEMS cap, they can participate in a lottery for an airtime reward of none, a small amount, and a larger amount. Participants also receive a weekly motivational message reminding them of their incentive to adhere. If they respond to the message they will receive airtime top-up.
Experimental: Fixed Adherence Group
Participant is told to meet a pre-determined target of 90%. If they reach that percentage measured using the MEMS cap, they can participate in a lottery for an airtime reward of none, a small amount, and a larger amount. Participants also receive a weekly motivational message reminding them of their incentive to adhere. If they respond to the message they will receive airtime top-up.
Participant is told to meet a pre-determined target of 90%. If they reach that percentage measured using the MEMS cap, they can participate in a lottery for an airtime reward of none, a small amount, and a larger amount. Participants also receive a weekly motivational message reminding them of their incentive to adhere. If they respond to the message they will receive airtime top-up.
Active Comparator: Control Group
Participants do not receive a lottery incentive conditional on adherence. Participants will however, continue to receive weekly messaging with airtime top-up contingent on response.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Medication adherence rates using electronically monitored adherence (MEMS cap) data
Time Frame: 9 months after enrollment
Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)-cap data will be collected continuously over the course of the 9-month study period allowing the study investigators to investigate daily adherence and its timing. MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the primary outcome variable of adherence (# of actual bottle openings / # of prescribed bottle openings).
9 months after enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fraction of clients displaying adherence of 90% or more
Time Frame: 9 months after enrollment
MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the secondary outcome measures of fraction of clients displaying adherence of 90% or more.
9 months after enrollment
Indicator for treatment interruptions of more than 48 hours
Time Frame: 9 months after enrollment
MEMS caps data indicating the date and time when the participant opened their pill bottle (either one of the ART medications or prophylaxis if not on ART yet) will be used to calculate the secondary outcome measures of an indicator for treatment interruptions of more than 48 hours.
9 months after enrollment
Viral load assays
Time Frame: 9 months after enrollment
9 months after enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 14, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 27, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

September 29, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 19, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 15, 2018

Last Verified

February 1, 2018

More Information

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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