Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.

Adolescents and young adults with HIV (AYH) are at greater risk for mental health conditions. Provision of mental health services to AYH is limited by an overburdened and untrained workforce, and psychological interventions ill-adapted for adolescent HIV care. Brief, transdiagnostic psychological in...

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Main Authors: Cyrus Mugo, Irene Njuguna, Vincent Maganga, Brian P Flaherty, Anjuli D Wagner, Ferdinand C Mukumbang, Shannon Dorsey, Daniel Mwai, Caren Mburu, Manasi Kumar, Anne Mbwayo, Muthoni Mathai, Pamela Y Collins, Dalton Wamalwa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325374
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author Cyrus Mugo
Irene Njuguna
Vincent Maganga
Brian P Flaherty
Anjuli D Wagner
Ferdinand C Mukumbang
Shannon Dorsey
Daniel Mwai
Caren Mburu
Manasi Kumar
Anne Mbwayo
Muthoni Mathai
Pamela Y Collins
Dalton Wamalwa
author_facet Cyrus Mugo
Irene Njuguna
Vincent Maganga
Brian P Flaherty
Anjuli D Wagner
Ferdinand C Mukumbang
Shannon Dorsey
Daniel Mwai
Caren Mburu
Manasi Kumar
Anne Mbwayo
Muthoni Mathai
Pamela Y Collins
Dalton Wamalwa
author_sort Cyrus Mugo
collection DOAJ
description Adolescents and young adults with HIV (AYH) are at greater risk for mental health conditions. Provision of mental health services to AYH is limited by an overburdened and untrained workforce, and psychological interventions ill-adapted for adolescent HIV care. Brief, transdiagnostic psychological interventions delivered in the HIV clinics may address some of these challenges. We will evaluate the PRO-ACT intervention in a hybrid type 1 cluster randomized clinical trial (NCT06247527) in 30 HIV clinics in 3 counties in Kenya. PRO-ACT is a cognitive behavioral therapy with 5 modules: Psychoeducation, Relaxation, prOblem-solving, behavioral Activation and Cognitive coping, delivered to AYH by trained health providers without specialist mental health training in 4-6 sessions within 6 months. We performed stratified randomization with matching to balance for county and facility size to assign 5 intervention (PRO-ACT) and 5 control (standard of care) clinics in each of the 3 counties. Screening of AYH ages 16-24 years will be conducted using the 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Up to 300 AYH with psychological distress (PHQ-9 score>4) will be enrolled in each arm. Further assessments will include the 5-item ASK suicide screening questions (ASQ), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), 20-item Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS)/PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), self-reported treatment adherence, and HIV viral loads. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at month 3, 6, 9 and 12. Mixed methods will be used to measure implementation outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and characterize determinants of implementation. Primary analysis of PRO-ACT effectiveness will be conducted at month 6 (near term treatment effect), and month 12 (treatment effect sustainability) comparing PHQ-9 mean scores between treatment and control groups. Secondary analyses will compare GAD-7, CATS/PCL-5, adherence and viral suppression between the groups. The study will inform integration efforts of holistic mental health services in HIV care.
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spelling doaj-art-eb99364f3fb6404ba87eaa98cd00811a2025-08-20T03:14:02ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01206e032537410.1371/journal.pone.0325374Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.Cyrus MugoIrene NjugunaVincent MagangaBrian P FlahertyAnjuli D WagnerFerdinand C MukumbangShannon DorseyDaniel MwaiCaren MburuManasi KumarAnne MbwayoMuthoni MathaiPamela Y CollinsDalton WamalwaAdolescents and young adults with HIV (AYH) are at greater risk for mental health conditions. Provision of mental health services to AYH is limited by an overburdened and untrained workforce, and psychological interventions ill-adapted for adolescent HIV care. Brief, transdiagnostic psychological interventions delivered in the HIV clinics may address some of these challenges. We will evaluate the PRO-ACT intervention in a hybrid type 1 cluster randomized clinical trial (NCT06247527) in 30 HIV clinics in 3 counties in Kenya. PRO-ACT is a cognitive behavioral therapy with 5 modules: Psychoeducation, Relaxation, prOblem-solving, behavioral Activation and Cognitive coping, delivered to AYH by trained health providers without specialist mental health training in 4-6 sessions within 6 months. We performed stratified randomization with matching to balance for county and facility size to assign 5 intervention (PRO-ACT) and 5 control (standard of care) clinics in each of the 3 counties. Screening of AYH ages 16-24 years will be conducted using the 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Up to 300 AYH with psychological distress (PHQ-9 score>4) will be enrolled in each arm. Further assessments will include the 5-item ASK suicide screening questions (ASQ), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), 20-item Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS)/PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), self-reported treatment adherence, and HIV viral loads. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at month 3, 6, 9 and 12. Mixed methods will be used to measure implementation outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and characterize determinants of implementation. Primary analysis of PRO-ACT effectiveness will be conducted at month 6 (near term treatment effect), and month 12 (treatment effect sustainability) comparing PHQ-9 mean scores between treatment and control groups. Secondary analyses will compare GAD-7, CATS/PCL-5, adherence and viral suppression between the groups. The study will inform integration efforts of holistic mental health services in HIV care.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325374
spellingShingle Cyrus Mugo
Irene Njuguna
Vincent Maganga
Brian P Flaherty
Anjuli D Wagner
Ferdinand C Mukumbang
Shannon Dorsey
Daniel Mwai
Caren Mburu
Manasi Kumar
Anne Mbwayo
Muthoni Mathai
Pamela Y Collins
Dalton Wamalwa
Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
PLoS ONE
title Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
title_full Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
title_fullStr Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
title_full_unstemmed Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
title_short Integration of a brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with HIV in Kenya: Protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial.
title_sort integration of a brief transdiagnostic psychological intervention in the care of adolescents and young adults with hiv in kenya protocol for a cluster randomized clinical trial
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325374
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