Reducing sexual risk and promoting acceptance of men who have sex with men living with HIV in India: Outcomes and process evaluation of a pilot randomised multi-level intervention |
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Authors: | Venkatesan Chakrapani Thilakavathi Subramanian Pandara Purayil Vijin Ruban Nelson Murali Shunmugam Trace Kershaw |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy (C-SHaRP), Chennai, India;2. The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai, Indiavenkatesan.chakrapani@gmail.comhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-9135;4. ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai, India;5. Centre for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy (C-SHaRP), Chennai, Indiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8852-6810;6. School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, USA |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTHIV-positive men who have sex with men (HIV+MSM) in India need culturally-relevant interventions to promote safer sex. We tested a multi-level intervention among HIV+MSM that targeted individual, interpersonal, and community factors, based on the Social-Personal and Social Ecological Models. We conducted a 2?×?2 factorial RCT with 119 HIV+MSM randomised to receive either an individual-level intervention (ILI) using motivational interviewing to promote safer sex, a community-level intervention (CLI) to strengthen community norms toward safer sex and reduce stigma among MSM communities, a multi-level intervention combining the individual- and community-level interventions (ILI?+?CLI), or standard-of-care control. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments of a composite sexual risk score and a process evaluation to assess fidelity and satisfaction. Out of the 119 HIV+MSM, 106 (89.0%) completed pre- and post-intervention assessments. Generalised Estimating Equation models showed that both CLI (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR]?=?.67, 95% CI .47 to .96) and ILI?+?CLI (IRR?=?.66, 95% CI .48 to .91) groups had a statistically significant decrease in sexual risk compared to the standard-of-care. The interventions had high levels of fidelity and satisfaction. This pilot RCT demonstrated feasibility and potential effectiveness of a multi-level intervention that addresses individual, interpersonal and community-level contributors of sexual risk among HIV+MSM. |
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Keywords: | Men who have sex with men multi-level intervention safer sex discrimination India |
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