WelTelOAKTREE: Text Messaging to Support Patients With HIV/AIDS in British Columbia

NCT02603536 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: F12-05361
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 85
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

WelTel Oak Tree is a repeated measures study that enrolled 85 HIV+ individuals from the Oak Tree Clinic at BC Women's Hospital. Participants were be provided with a cell phone and/or unlimited text messaging capability if they do not have it already, and for one year received a weekly text message stating "How are you". Participant problems and non-responses were be followed up by a nurse. Data on demographics, CD4 counts, HIV viral loads, HIV medication adherence and attendance at appointments was collected for the year prior to the intervention and during the intervention for comparison. Data assessing quality of life was also collected at three points during the one year study period. Cost effectiveness and cost benefit of the intervention is being studied to assess feasibility of transferring the intervention to a programmatically funded facet of patient care.

Conditions

HIV; Medication Adherence

Keywords

Text Messaging; Harm Reduction

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Increased viral load/proportion of HIV viral load tests showing virologic suppression (< 40copies/ml)

  Measured using lab results available in the patient charts in the intervention year compared to the year prior to enrollment.

  Two years

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Number of hours spent by health care providers for this intervention

  Two years

• Improved engagement

  Two years

• Increased CD4 counts

  Two years

• Improved antiretroviral medication adherence

  Two years

Study Arms (1)

Vulnerable or pilot participant

EXPERIMENTAL

In addition to standard care, WelTel will send a weekly text message to participants in this arm for a one year period. Participants will be requested to respond to the outgoing message "How are you?" within 48 hours; they may respond that they are doing well or that they have a problem. A clinician will call to follow-up with all participants who respond indicating a problem or who do not respond within 48 hours.

Other: WelTel

Interventions

WelTel OTHER

An evidence-based, text messaging solution for improving patient adherence.

Vulnerable or pilot participant

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• attendance at the Oak Tree Clinic for at least 1 year prior to study entry to permit historical comparison analysis and with at least one clinic visit in the preceding year from date of enrolment
• age ≥14 years
• CD4 count ≤500 cells/mm3 or previous prescription for antiretroviral therapy (other than for pregnancy) prior to the control year, (indicating clinical indication for HIV therapy existed during the control year)
• any detectable viral load (≥200 copies/mL) in the control year OR is one of the 25 participants in the pilot study, WelTelBC1 (H11-03003), and who when approached for consent into the current study, chooses to participate

You may not qualify if:

• attendance at the Oak Tree Clinic for less than one year prior to study entry
• age \<14 years
• consensus by clinical team that patient does NOT fit high-risk criteria as listed
• lives in an area where cell phone service is not available
• unable to communicate via the text-messaging system

Sponsors & Collaborators

• BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre: lead
• Gilead Sciences: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Oak Tree Clinic

Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 3N1, Canada

Location

Related Publications (3)

• El Joueidi S, Bardosh K, Musoke R, Tilahun B, Abo Moslim M, Gourlay K, MacMullin A, Cook VJ, Murray M, Mbaraga G, Nsanzimana S, Lester R. Evaluation of the implementation process of the mobile health platform 'WelTel' in six sites in East Africa and Canada using the modified consolidated framework for implementation research (mCFIR). BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2021 Oct 26;21(1):293. doi: 10.1186/s12911-021-01644-1.

  PMID: 34702229 DERIVED

• Campbell AR, Kinvig K, Cote HC, Lester RT, Qiu AQ, Maan EJ, Alimenti A, Pick N, Murray MC. Health Care Provider Utilization and Cost of an mHealth Intervention in Vulnerable People Living With HIV in Vancouver, Canada: Prospective Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018 Jul 9;6(7):e152. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.9493.

  PMID: 29986845 DERIVED

• King E, Kinvig K, Steif J, Qiu AQ, Maan EJ, Albert AY, Pick N, Alimenti A, Kestler MH, Money DM, Lester RT, Murray MCM. Mobile Text Messaging to Improve Medication Adherence and Viral Load in a Vulnerable Canadian Population Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Repeated Measures Study. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Jun 1;19(6):e190. doi: 10.2196/jmir.6631.

  PMID: 28572079 DERIVED

Related Links

• Click here for more information about the WelTel intervention.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Medication Adherence; Harm Reduction

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Patient Compliance; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Melanie Murray, MD,PhD,FRCPC

  BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor, Div. of Infectious Diseases, Dept. of Medicine, UBC

Model Details: Repeated measures study. All participants acted as their own controls with data from year prior to intervention serving as control data and data from intervention year as intervention data.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 10, 2015
• First Posted: November 11, 2015
• Study Start: April 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2015
• Study Completion: May 1, 2016
• Last Updated: February 2, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-01

Locations

CA (1)