CHALO! 2.0: A Mobile Technology Based Intervention to Accelerate HIV Testing and Linkage to Preventive Treatment.

Summary

While HIV prevalence among Men Seeking Men (MSM) in India is 10-15 times higher than in the general population (4.3% vs 0.3%), current interventions for Indian MSM have limited reach. In order to reduce the burden of HIV in MSM, innovative, far-reaching prevention and treatment strategies are needed. Guided by the increase access to internet-based social and mobile technologies (SMT) (e.g., SMS, WhatsApp, dating apps) globally and in India, this is a 3-arm parallel, pragmatic randomized controlled trial of community-developed, theory based behavioral intervention (CHALO! 2.0) delivered via WhatsApp (secure SMS application) compared to an Attention-Matched Control, or a Digital Coupon for free HIV testing only control conditions. The primary outcomes are HIV-testing at 6 months (3 months after the end of the intervention) and linkage-to-preventive care (counseling or pre-exposure prophylaxis) at 12 months. The secondary outcomes are the frequency of HIV-testing by 18 months.

Conditions

• Hiv

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

CHALO! 2.0

The components of the intervention are: Contents of digital-media (sent twice/week for 12 weeks) on the following topics: HIV testing, prevention, treatment, linkage-to-care; Personalized digital coupon for free testing; Webpage listing testing/ care sites; access to online outreach workers.

BEHAVIORAL

Attention-matched control (AMC)

The components of the intervention are: Contents of digital-media (sent twice/week for 12 weeks) only related to general health information; Personalized digital coupon for free testing; Webpage listing testing/ care sites; access to online outreach workers.

BEHAVIORAL

Digital coupon only (DCO)

The components of the intervention are: Digital coupon for free HIV testing; Webpage listing testing/ care sites; access to online outreach workers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Humsafar Trust

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Hunter College of City University of New York

  collaborator OTHER

• Fenway Community Health

  collaborator OTHER

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Viraj V Patel, MD, MPH · Associate Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-22

Primary Completion

2024-06-27

Completion

2024-12-30

Countries

• India

Study Locations