Community Health Worker Optimization of Antihypertensive Care in HIV (COACH): Study protocol for a pilot trial of an intervention to improve hypertension care among Tanzanians with HIV.

Abstract

Objective

This study will evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the COACH (Community Health Worker Optimization of Antihypertensive Care in HIV) intervention, which integrates hypertension management into existing HIV care for people living with HIV (PLWH) in Tanzania.

Methods

The study will be conducted at two HIV Care and Treatment Centers (CTCs) in Tanzania. In a single-arm pre-post feasibility trial, 100 PLWH with hypertension will be enrolled and will receive the six-month intervention. The COACH intervention includes six monthly hypertension educational sessions delivered by community health workers (CHWs) and integrated within HIV CTC visits, monthly blood pressure monitoring, follow up care coordination, fully subsidized antihypertensive medications, a standardized antihypertensive treatment algorithm, and training for providers. The intervention's implementation outcomes will be evaluated using the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, and the primary study outcome (reach of the intervention) will be the proportion of all scheduled intervention sessions attended by participants, a measure of feasibility. Secondary clinical effectiveness outcomes will include adherence to antihypertensive medication, blood pressure control, body mass index, cardiovascular risk, and hypertension knowledge.

Significance

The COACH intervention has the potential to significantly improve hypertension management among PLWH in Tanzania by leveraging the existing HIV care infrastructure and CHWs. This study will provide crucial insights into the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the intervention in integrating hypertension care into HIV services, informing larger-scale implementation and policy changes in Tanzania and other resource-limitted settings.

Trial registration

Clinical trials.gov Identifer: NCT06503991.

Department

Description

Provenance

Subjects

Humans, HIV Infections, Hypertension, Antihypertensive Agents, Feasibility Studies, Pilot Projects, Adult, Middle Aged, Tanzania, Female, Male, Community Health Workers, East African People

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1371/journal.pone.0315027

Publication Info

Min Htike, Wai Yan, Preeti Manavalan, Lisa Wanda, Kelvin Haukila, Blandina T Mmbaga, Francis M Sakita, Rennyda Zebedayo, Francis Gwasma, et al. (2024). Community Health Worker Optimization of Antihypertensive Care in HIV (COACH): Study protocol for a pilot trial of an intervention to improve hypertension care among Tanzanians with HIV. PloS one, 19(12). p. e0315027. 10.1371/journal.pone.0315027 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/33919.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Jafar

Tazeen Hasan Jafar

Research Professor of Global Health
Thielman

Nathan Maclyn Thielman

Professor of Medicine

Broadly, my research focuses on a range of clinical and social issues that affect persons living with or at risk for HIV infection in resource-poor settings. In Tanzania, our group is applying novel methods to optimize HIV testing uptake among high-risk groups. We recently demonstrated that the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), a form of stated preference survey research, is a robust tool for identifying (a) which characteristics of HIV testing options are most preferred by different populations and (b) which tradeoffs individuals make in evaluating testing options. Building on more than a decade of productive HIV testing research in the Kilimanjaro Region, the next phase of our NIMH funded project will test the hypothesis that DCE-derived HIV testing options significantly increases rates of testing among groups at high risk for HIV infection. This work holds promise not only for optimizing HIV testing uptake in the Kilimanjaro Region, but also for applying novel tools in the service of translational epidemiology and implementation research.

Hertz

Julian T Hertz

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Julian Hertz, MD, MSc, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine & Global Health. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and attended medical school at Duke University, where he received the Dean's Merit Scholarship and the Thomas Jefferson Award for leadership. He completed his residency training in emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and his fellowship in Global Health at Duke.

Dr. Hertz's primary interests include global health, implementation science, and undergraduate and graduate medical education. Dr. Hertz's research focuses on using implementation science methods to improve cardiovascular care both locally and globally. His current projects involve developing interventions to improve acute myocardial infarction care in Tanzania, to improve management of hypertension among Tanzanians with HIV, and to improve post-hospital care among patients with multimorbidity in East Africa.

Dr. Hertz has received numerous awards for clinical, educational, and research excellence, including the Duke Emergency Medicine Faculty Teacher of the Year Award, the Duke Emergency Medicine Faculty Clinician of the Year Award, and the Duke Emergency Medicine Faculty Researcher of the Year Award. He has also received the Golden Apple Teaching Award from the Duke medical student body, the Duke Master Clinician/Teacher Award, and the Global Academic Achievement Award from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine.


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