Published in:
01-12-2014 | Original Paper
ACT2 Peer-Driven Intervention Increases Enrollment into HIV/AIDS Medical Studies Among African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors:
Marya Gwadz, Charles M. Cleland, Mindy Belkin, Amanda Ritchie, Noelle Leonard, Marion Riedel, Angela Banfield, Pablo Colon, Vanessa Elharrar, Jonathan Kagan, Donna Mildvan, ACT2 Collaborative Research Team
Published in:
AIDS and Behavior
|
Issue 12/2014
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Abstract
African American/Black and Hispanic persons living with HIV/AIDS (“AABH-PLHA”) are under-represented in HIV/AIDS medical studies (HAMS). This paper evaluates the efficacy of a social/behavioral intervention to increase rates of screening for and enrollment into HAMS in these populations. Participants (N = 540) were enrolled into a cluster randomized controlled trial of an intervention designed to overcome multi-level barriers to HAMS. Primary endpoints were rates of screening for and enrollment into therapeutic/treatment-oriented and observational studies. Intervention arm participants were 30 times more likely to be screened than controls (49.3 % vs. 3.7 %; p < .001). Half (55.5 %) of those screened were eligible for HAMS, primarily observational studies. Nine out of ten found eligible enrolled (91.7 %), almost all into observational studies (95.2 %), compared to no enrollments among controls. Achieving appropriate representation of AABH-PLHA in HAMS necessitates modification of study inclusion criteria to increase the proportion found eligible for therapeutic HAMS, in addition to social/behavioral interventions.