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A Savings Intervention to Reduce Men's Engagement in HIV Risk Behaviors

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University of Pennsylvania

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Behavior
STI
Alcohol Consumption
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Incentives

Treatments

Behavioral: Receives mobile banking account with incentives to save

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other
NIH

Identifiers

NCT05385484
849897
1R01HD103563-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This randomized control trial will test an economic intervention to reduce Kenyan men's engagement in behaviors that increase the risk of HIV/STIs. Participants randomized to the intervention group will be able to open accounts with a partner bank and will be incentivized to save with lottery-based rewards.

Full description

This project will evaluate an innovative, theoretically-motivated economic intervention to reduce men's engagement in transactional sex and other risky behaviors. Leveraging innovations in mobile financial services and research on savings behavior in low-income countries, the investigators propose to test an intervention that seeks to motivate high-risk, income-earning men in western Kenya to reduce their spending on risky behaviors and instead save their disposable income in local bank accounts. These bank accounts will include additional incentives to save in the form of lottery-based rewards linked to amounts saved. The intervention will also encourage participants to develop savings goals and strategies, and provide periodic reminders about saving regularly. Through a direct economic mechanism (incentives to shift expenditures from the present to the future) and a psychological mechanism (increasing future orientation), the investigators hypothesize that the intervention will result in increased savings, reduced spending on transactional sex and alcohol, less risky sexual behavior, and reduced risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial among men who are at high risk of HIV and STI infection and determine the effects of a savings intervention on health and economic outcomes. Specific aims of the project are as follows. Aim 1: Determine the impact of the intervention on savings and investment behavior, self-reported sexual behavior, and incidence of HIV/STIs. Aim 2: Quantitatively and qualitatively assess mechanisms of behavior change among participants and a sample of their female partners.

Enrollment

1,500 patients

Sex

Male

Ages

18 to 39 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Male
  • Age 18-39 years
  • Resides in study community and plans to remain for the next 2 years
  • Used alcohol or other substances in the past month
  • Engagement in any transactional sex (defined as payment of money, goods, or services in exchange for sex) in the past 3 months
  • Has a steady income source that typically results in earnings every week
  • Owns mobile phone
  • Already has or is willing to open an account with partner banking institution
  • Has national identification card (required for opening bank account)
  • Has Kenya Revenue Authority personal identification number or is willing to create one (required for opening bank account)

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Trial design

Primary purpose

Prevention

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

None (Open label)

1,500 participants in 2 patient groups

Mobile banking account with incentives to save
Experimental group
Description:
Participants in the savings intervention group will be provided with basic information on the importance of saving for the future, as well as (a) lottery-based incentives to save, (b) opportunities to develop savings goals, and (c) periodic reminders about the savings incentives and goals. Participants will receive assistance in opening and using a mobile savings account and will receive an education session that emphasizes the importance of saving for the future. Participants will be told about lottery-based incentives for saving money in their account.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Receives mobile banking account with incentives to save
Basic health and financial education
No Intervention group
Description:
Participants in the control group will be given basic information on the importance of saving for the future. In addition, health education curriculum developed by Impact Research \& Development Organization (IRDO) will be provided to participants with standard health education on places to seek services for HIV and STI prevention and treatment, including information on alcohol and transactional sex as risk factors for HIV transmission.

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Central trial contact

Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD; Teniola Egbe, MPH, MBE

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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