Explore UAB

School of Public Health News February 09, 2018

A team of researchers, including two from University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Dr. Janet Turan, a professor, and Ms. Anna Helova, a program manager in the department of health care organization and policy engaged in a study with others from Kenya and the University of Colorado in Denver. This study will determine the impact of long-term (up to 12 months postpartum) text messaging and cMMs on retention in and adherence to ART among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV in Kenya. It will address key gaps in our understanding of what interventions may successfully promote long-term retention in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) cascade of care.

Successful completion and retention throughout the multi-step cascade of PMTCT remains difficult to achieve. The Mother and Infant Visit Adherence and Treatment Engagement study aims to evaluate the effect of mobile text messaging, community-based mentor mothers (cMMs), or both on increasing antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, retention in HIV care, maternal viral load suppression, and mother-to-child HIV transmission for mother-infant pairs receiving lifelong ART.

This study is a cluster randomized, 2 × 2 factorial, controlled trial. The trial will be undertaken in the western Kenyan counties of Migori, Kisumu, and Homa Bay. Study sites will be randomized into one of four groups: six sites will implement both text messaging and cMM, six sites will implement cMM only, six sites will implement text messaging only, and six sites will implement the existing standard of care. The primary analysis will be based on the intention-to-treat principle and will compare maternal ART adherence and maternal retention in care.

Read full article

Back to Top