Uptake of Medical Male Circumcision Among Men With Sexually Transmitted Infections

Summary

The intervention includes provision of transport reimbursement for men who will undergo voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), intensified health education by a VMMC mobilizer and a male and female VMMC champion and use of a cell phone short messaging service (SMS) and/or telephonic tracing to remind clients of their VMMC appointment (the RITe intervention). The investigators will assess the uptake of VMMC, and acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility of the RITe intervention among uncircumcised men attending a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) clinic and health care workers.

This intervention was initially designed to include escorting men interested in circumcision from the STI clinic to a VMMC clinic co-located in the same facility. However, the VMMC clinic space was repurposed to a COVID-19 isolation unit therefore clinic escorts were excluded. In Lieu of clinic escorts, participants will be linked to the nearest health facility of choice where VMMC services are provided by the VMMC mobilizer.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of using transport reimbursement, intensified health education and SMS/telephonic tracing in increasing the uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision at this clinic.

Conditions

• HIV Infections
• Sexually Transmitted Infections

Interventions

OTHER

Standard of care

Standard of care referral approach which is a brief health talk conducted once every morning by a VMMC mobilizer.

BEHAVIORAL

Intensified Health Education

More detailed health talk conducted during each group health talk session by the VMMC mobilizer and champions describing VMMC, its benefits and how to access the service and testimonies from men who have successfully undergone VMMC

BEHAVIORAL

SMS/telephonic Tracing

SMS tracing to remind participants of VMMC appointments

BEHAVIORAL

Transportation Reimbursement

Transportation reimbursement to offset the cost of transportation for VMMC appointments

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Fogarty International Center of the National Institute of Health

  collaborator NIH

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mitch Matoga, MD, MSc · UNC

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

99 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-02-01

Primary Completion

2022-08-30

Completion

2022-08-30

Countries

• Malawi

Study Locations