The Healthy Life Choices Project in HIV-Positive Patients

Columbia University

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Diarrhea; HIV Infections

Treatments: Behavioral: Dietary intervention; Behavioral: HIV Self-Care

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT00017810

6510

R29NR004169 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This randomized clinical trial is designed to determine the efficacy of a dietary intervention to reduce the frequency of bowel movements and improve stool consistency as compared with subjects assigned to a control group. The study enrolled HIV patients with a history of three or more episodes of diarrhea for 3 weeks or more.

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of a combined behavioral dietary intervention using normal foods (Condition 1: treatment) with HIV self-care (Condition 2: control) to reduce the frequency and improve the consistency of bowel movements after 3 weeks and 24 weeks of study intervention.

Full description

Thirty to fifty percent of individuals with HIV can be expected to have diarrhea at some point during their illness. Diarrhea can be a chronic condition in HIV disease wherein three or more daily episodes of loose, watery stools are experienced for 4 weeks or more. Chronic diarrhea has been associated with significant morbidity, weight loss, and severe malnutrition. Researchers have reported that patients with chronic diarrhea experience a marked decrease in quality of life in comparison with HIV patients without diarrhea.

The goal of nutrition management for patients with chronic diarrhea is to ensure that adequate caloric consumption meets the metabolic needs of such individuals and to provide symptomatic relief. HIV infection, regardless of stage, causes an increase in resting energy expenditure because of the response of the body to the viral infection. Proper nutrition management can therefore assist in preventing further nutritional imbalances.

Enrollment: 75 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years of age or older
• diagnosed with HIV or AIDS based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria
• experienced a minimum of three episodes of loose, watery, or liquid stools in a 24-hour period for at least 3 weeks
• provide verification from their primary care provider of HIV status, chronic diarrhea history, documentation of medical evaluations completed
• laboratory confirmation that stool samples were negative for pathogens
• patients who were taking antidiarrheal agents were required to be on a stable regimen (same drug, dosage, and frequency) for at least 7 days before entry into the study and still meet diarrhea frequency and consistency criteria
• antiretroviral agents taken to manage HIV required a stable regimen (same drugs, dosage, and frequency) for at least 8 weeks before study entry
• patients were required to complete a mini-mental state examination, obtaining a score of 24 or higher

Exclusion criteria

• not meeting any of the above criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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75 participants in 2 patient groups

Condition 1: Dietary Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will receive behavioral dietary intervention using normal foods.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Dietary intervention

Condition 2 (Control): HIV Self-Care

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients will receive HIV self-care information, and be given the dietary intervention at the completion of the last study session (post study).

Treatment:

Behavioral: HIV Self-Care