Standardized Patients to Measure and Address Intersectional Stigma

Standardized Patients to Measure and Address Intersectional Stigma: An HIV Prevention Engagement Strategy

This study aims to develop and evaluate an intervention to reduce enacted stigma in healthcare settings aimed at people living with HIV (PLWH) and men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. Enacted stigma will be measured using a quality of care score collected through unannounced standardized patient (SP) visits to consenting providers in sexual health clinics.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HIV Infections; Hiv; AIDS
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Stigma Reduction Intervention

Detailed Description

Standardized patients, or trained actors from the community, will conduct a baseline round of unannounced clinic visits with consenting providers for the purposes of observing their clinical performance. SPs will present clinically standardized case scenarios, but the HIV status and sexual orientation of each case will be randomly varied in order to quantify the extent to which HIV stigma and/or homophobia contribute to the deterioration of care quality. Care quality will be calculated using a global score based on a standard checklist administered to SPs following each visit. Results of the baseline visit will inform the development of a stigma reduction intervention for consenting providers employed at clinics randomized to the treatment arm of the study. Design of this intervention has been informed by results of the baseline study and incorporates expert input from members of community advisory boards (CAB), one made up of community members and the other of providers. The intervention will consist of both didactic and skills-building methods and will be delivered both in-person and through follow-up modules online. Didactic portions will include content on topics including clinical management of common STIs, shared decision making, sexual history taking, and working with marginalized populations. Skills-building sessions will include group-based discussion and medical simulation and feedback with trained standardized patients. Follow-up data collection will begin within 2 months of completing the stigma reduction intervention using the same approach as for the baseline data collection. All research activities will take place in Guangzhou, China.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 59
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
      • University of Minnesota

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Eligible facilities will be those with:

  1. formal government accreditation as a medical center (a basic tenet of all public hospitals in China); and
  2. possession of an accredited on-site laboratory with capacity to provide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing for HIV, treponemal (e.g. Treponema pallidum particle agglutination) and non-treponemal tests (e.g. rapid plasma regain) for syphilis.
• Within eligible and consenting facilities, eligible providers will be those who are licensed at the time of the study to practice dermatovenereology in China.

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Stigma Reduction Intervention; A Stigma Reduction Intervention curriculum developed using data generated from Stage 1 of the study. For stage 2/intervention stage, participants who are providers and randomized to the "Stigma Reduction Intervention" arm through clinic-level randomization	Behavioral: Stigma Reduction Intervention; Care providers will complete the Stigma Reduction Intervention curriculum. This study uses a modified Zelen design. Control arm participants will be aware that they are part of an observational study but not that they are in the control arm of an intervention study. This avoids artificially inducing changes to the standards of medical care in facilities randomization to the control arm, a common consequence in RCTs to evaluate population based services.
No Intervention: Control; For stage 2/intervention stage, participants who are providers and randomized to the "Control" arm through clinic-level randomization

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
MSM Stigma; Domain of Care: Syphilis Testing	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in MSM stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between men who have sex with men [MSM] vs. straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to whether or not doctors offered a syphilis test.	4 months post-intervention
HIV Stigma; Domain of Care: Syphilis Testing	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in HIV stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive vs. HIV negative people). This outcome measures care quality related to whether or not doctors offered a syphilis test.	4 months post-intervention
Intersectional Stigma; Domain of Care: Syphilis Testing	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in intersectional stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive MSM vs. HIV negative straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to whether or not doctors offered a syphilis test.	4 months post-intervention
MSM Stigma; Domain of Care: Diagnostic Effort	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in MSM stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between men who have sex with men [MSM] vs. straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to the level of diagnostic effort expended by the doctor.	4 months post-intervention
HIV Stigma; Domain of Care: Diagnostic Effort	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in HIV stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive vs. HIV negative people). This outcome measures care quality related to the level of diagnostic effort expended by the doctor.	4 months post-intervention
Intersectional Stigma; Domain of Care: Diagnostic Effort	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in intersectional stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive MSM vs. HIV negative straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to the level of diagnostic effort expended by the doctor.	4 months post-intervention
MSM Stigma; Domain of Care: Patient-centered Care	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in MSM stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between men who have sex with men [MSM] vs. straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to the patient-centeredness of care provided.	4 months post-intervention
HIV Stigma; Domain of Care: Patient-centered Care	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in HIV stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive vs. HIV negative people). This outcome measures care quality related to the patient-centeredness of care provided.	4 months post-intervention
Intersectional Stigma; Domain of Care: Patient-centered Care	The outcome represents the amount by which stigma was reduced in each arm between baseline and follow-up. Positive values mean stigma indicate a decrease in stigma between the two time points. Negative values mean an increase in stigma between the two time points. Stigma itself was measured as the difference in healthcare quality between a stigmatized group vs. a dominant group. Because healthcare is multidimensional, we examined it across three domains: syphilis testing, diagnostic effort, and patient-centeredness of care. This outcome quantifies pre-post changes in intersectional stigma within each arm (i.e. differences in care quality between HIV positive MSM vs. HIV negative straight men). This outcome measures care quality related to the patient-centeredness of care provided.	4 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
HIV Testing Volume	The secondary outcome is HIV testing volume, which will be reported as the aggregate clinic-level number of HIV tests conducted in each enrolled clinic during the study period.	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Minnesota
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kumi Smith, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 24, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 17, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): May 21, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 31, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 29, 2024
• Last Verified: July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: stigma
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; HIV Infections
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00006470; R34MH121251 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No