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N/A N=136 Randomized Prevention

The Risk of HIV Acquisition Among Traditional Healers in South Africa

HIV Infections

Enrolled (actual)
136
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Mar 2023
Primary outcome: Primary: Blood Exposure — 1.9; 1.9 Number of Glove Pairs Used Per Razor Bla

Study Design & Population

Study type
Interventional
Phase
N/A
Interventions
Education and Training by Clinicians (Behavioral); Training and Education from Traditional Healers and Clinicians (Behavioral)
Age
Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex
All
Sponsor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Primary completion
Jan 2023

Outcome Measures

OutcomeResultp-value
PRIMARY
Blood Exposure
1.9; 1.9

Summary

Traditional healers, community-based partners with the national health system of South Africa, are exposed to patient blood an average of 1,500 times during their careers due to the practice of delivering herbal remedies via herbs rubbed into dozens of sub-cutaneous cuts. The purpose of this proposal is to compare two implementation strategies to increase consistent use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): (1) a health care worker provided training program followed by 3 educational outreach and coaching visits at the healer's place of practice vs. (2) a training and educational outreach initiative led by a team of health care workers and healers who adopted and use PPE on their own (early adopters) to assess their effects on exposure to patient blood. With an HIV prevalence among healers well above that in the baseline population (30% vs. 19%) and HIV prevalence of 59% among those exposed to patient blood, this study will allow the investigators to test a novel implementation strategy for delivering PPE training to prevent new HIV infections among a newly identified high-risk population in a region with the world's highest HIV prevalence.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Traditional healers > 18 years of age, who are registered as traditional healers with the government of South Africa, are currently practicing in the Bushbuckridge area, and conduct traditional vaccinations.
  • Biomedical practitioners > 18 years of age, who are currently providing health care services to patients at government or private health facilities in Bushbuckridge. '
  • Community members > 18 years of age, who currently live in Bushbuckridge and sought health care services from a traditional healer in the past year.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Traditional healers <18 years of age, who are not registered as traditional healers with the government of South Africa, are not currently practicing, or do not conduct traditional vaccinations on their patients.
  • Biomedical practitioners < 18 years of age or who are not currently providing health services in the Bushbuckridge area.
  • Community members < 18 years of age or who do not seek health care services from traditional healers.
View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04440813). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.

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