Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jun 12, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 9, 2023 - Jun 27, 2023
Date Accepted: Aug 17, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
MASI, a Smartphone App to Improve Treatment Adherence Among South African Adolescents and Young Adults with HIV: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Adolescents and young adults with HIV repeatedly demonstrate low rates of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence as well as low rates of viral suppression. Digital health interventions are a promising way to engage adolescents and young adults with HIV to support ART adherence. However, few digital health interventions have been developed and tested with adolescents and young adults in countries like South Africa, where the HIV burden among adolescents and young adults is greatest. MASI (MAsakhane Siphucule Impilo Yethu; Xhosa for “Let's empower each other and improve our health") is a comprehensive ART adherence-supporting app for South African adolescents and young adults with HIV. It was culturally adapted using the HealthMpowerment (HMP) platform.
Objective:
The aim of this paper is to describe the protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of MASI on self-reported ART adherence and social support.
Methods:
We will enroll 50 adolescents and young adults with HIV ages 15-21 years. Participants will be recruited from public ART clinics linked to a large government-funded teaching hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants will be randomized 1:1 into either the intervention arm receiving a full version of MASI or the control arm receiving an information-only version of the app (n=25 per arm). Participants will be asked to engage with MASI daily for 6 months. All participants will complete baseline and follow-up assessments at 3- and 6-months.
Results:
Study screening began in May 2022 and the first participant was enrolled on June 21, 2022. As of June 12, 2023, 81 participants have completed screeners, and 36 eligible participants have been enrolled in the pilot RCT. Recruitment is anticipated to last through August 31, 2023, with study activities anticipated through February 29, 2024.
Conclusions:
There is an urgent need for innovative interventions to improve ART adherence among adolescents and young adults in settings like South Africa. If found to be feasible and acceptable, MASI could be implemented with adolescents and young adults with HIV in other parts of the country. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04661878; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT04661878.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.