Active clinical trials for "Sexually Transmitted Diseases"

A randomized three arm control trial to examine the efficacy of two distinct apps (LYNX and MyChoices) developed for young men who have sex with men (YMSM) compared to standard of care (SOC) information about HIV testing and PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis).

This study will test the effects of an intervention to reduce substance use and related harms among people leaving rural jails or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system. This study will compare people in a health linkage intervention with people who will get overdose (OD) education. Everyone will take part in the baseline and follow-up surveys and receive OD education. Participants will be assigned to one of the two groups by chance based on when they are enrolled to the study and if their county is randomly assigned to an intervention or a comparison condition. By doing this study, the investigators hope to learn if providing linkage to health services along with HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and overdose education to people leaving rural jails or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system will reduce substance use and related harms.

The overall objective of the proposed research is to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among college students. The investigators propose to accomplish this by using the innovative, engineering-inspired multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to develop a highly effective, appealing, economical, and readily scalable internet-delivered behavioral intervention targeting the intersection of alcohol use and sexual risk behavior. The rate of STIs on college campuses is alarming: one in four college students is diagnosed with an STI at least once during their college experience. Sexual activity when drinking alcohol is highly prevalent among college students. Alcohol use is known to contribute to the sexual risk behaviors that are most responsible for the transmission of STIs, namely unprotected sex, contact with numerous partners, and "hook-ups" (casual sexual encounters). Few interventions have been developed that explicitly target the intersection of alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, and none have been optimized. In order to reduce the incidence of STI transmission among this and other high-risk groups, a new approach is needed. MOST is a comprehensive methodological framework that brings the power of engineering principles to bear on optimization of behavioral interventions. MOST enables researchers to experimentally test the individual components in an intervention to determine their effectiveness, indicating which components need to be revised and re-tested. Given the high rates of alcohol use and sex among college students, the college setting provides an ideal opportunity for intervening on alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors. The proposed study will include a diverse population of college students on 4 campuses which will increase the generalizability of the findings. The specific aims are to (1) develop and pilot test an initial set of online intervention components targeting the link between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, (2) use the MOST approach to build an optimized preventive intervention, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the newly optimized preventive intervention using a fully powered randomized controlled trial (RCT). This work will result in a new, more potent behavioral intervention that will reduce the incidence of STIs among college students in the US, and will lay the groundwork for a new generation of highly effective STI prevention interventions aimed at other subpopulations at risk.

The specific aims are to: Pilot test a randomized controlled trial of Project PRIDE for feasibility for subsequent research projects. A sample of 123 men aged 18-25 who identify as gay, bisexual, queer, or some other non-heterosexual identity, who are HIV negative, who report at least once instance of condomless anal sex in the absence of PrEP in the past 60 days, and who report drug use at least once in the past 60 days will be recruited and randomized to one of two conditions: Project PRIDE: an eight-session primary HIV-prevention intervention; or Wait-list control condition: after approximately 5 months, participants will receive Project PRIDE. Test the feasibility of obtaining biological measures of stress, drug use, and HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) status. To examine the impact of the intervention on stress physiology, participants will provide saliva samples that will be used to assess diurnal stress (i.e., cortisol) at pre-test, post-test, and 3-month follow-up. To substantiate self-report measures, participants will provide urine samples that will be used to assess drug use. Participants will be tested for gonorrhea, and chlamydia at each time point by providing a separate urine sample, HIV via oral swab and for syphilis by providing a blood sample. It is hypothesized that, compared to the wait-list control group, those in the treatment group will report significant reductions in mental health problems (depression, anxiety. loneliness), minority stressors (internalized homonegativity, sexual orientation concealment), substance use (drug and alcohol), condomless anal sex, number of sex partners, and stress-related biomarkers (salivary cortisol). In addition, compared to the wait-list control group, those in the treatment group will report significant improvements in self-esteem.

This study is testing the acceptability and feasibility of MyChoices, a mobile application (app), to promote HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among young men who have sex with men (YMSM).

A randomized controlled trial conducted on 688 sexually experienced adolescents, with 337 participants assigned to the routine program, and 351 to the new intervention developed from an assessment of their needs. All participants will complete a self-administered questionnaire and an interview on their knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), self-efficacy, skills in negotiating for sexual abstinence or condom use, and sexual behaviors at baseline and at 6- and 12-months' post- intervention. All will be tested for STIs. Participants in the intervention group will receive 4 individual counseling sessions on STIs/HIV knowledge, life skills, secondary abstinence, safer sex and healthy relationships over 1 year. They will also be referred to counselors for proactive social and emotional support delivered through electronic media and other means. The control group will receive the usual counseling session at first and follow-up clinic visit.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a community-level HIV prevention program in promoting safer sexual behaviors and reducing the transmission of HIV/sexually transmitted diseases among at-risk populations in China, India, Peru, Russia, and Zimbabwe.

This project evaluates the effect of a combined economic and psycho-social intervention to reduce risky sexual activity and its consequences. The main hypothesis to be tested is that risky sexual activity and resulting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be reduced through an intervention of counseling, regular STI testing, and positive reinforcement using cash rewards. The intervention is being implemented in a population of young people in rural Tanzania where more conventional behavioral change interventions have had limited effect in battling a generalized HIV epidemic.

This study tests the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention to reduce sexual risk behavior in HIV-positive, methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men (MSM). It builds on the findings of a previous study (R01 DA012116, "Promoting safer sex in HIV+ homosexual and bisexual men who use methamphetamine"). That study achieved significant short-term results that eroded over time. Accordingly, this study hypothesizes that the addition of a maintenance component to the already proven counseling and educational components of the treatment model will result in longer-lasting positive effects.

The primary purpose of Project PROTECT was to evaluate two different intervention approaches that encourage young women to use dual methods of contraception. The individualized intervention is a computer assisted, fully-tailored, interactive intervention based on the transtheoretical model of behavior change. This intervention was compared to an enhanced standard care intervention that provided computer-based, non-tailored information and advice regarding the use of contraceptive methods. The two primary outcomes of this trial include: 1) a behavioral outcome: the reported use of dual methods of contraception; and 2) a biological outcome: an incident or recurrent STI or unintended pregnancy. The hypotheses of this trial were: 1) the individualized intervention will result in a greater increase in dual contraceptive use than the standard care approach; and 2) the individualized intervention would result in greater protection against incident or recurrent cases of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.