The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared that AIDS is a """"""""state of emergency"""""""" in the US relative to African Americans. Teen males attending STD clinics are one important, yet often neglected, population of African Americans at risk of HIV acquisition. Despite extremely high rates of STD acquisition (and subsequent infection) among this population, effective clinic-based interventions specifically designed to reduce their sexual risk behavior for STD/HIV have not been developed/disseminated. A recent intervention trial (conducted by Dr. Crosby) demonstrated the efficacy of a brief, clinic-based, intervention designed to prevent subsequent STI acquisition among African American males 18 to 29 years of age. The proposed study will test the efficacy this intervention (in modified form) to reduce STI incidence among African American teen (15 to 20 years old). The primary hypothesis is that teens randomized to receive the intervention will have a lower incidence rate of laboratory-confirmed STIs at 2 and 6-month follow-up assessments (as well as 12-month follow-up conducted by a medical records review) compared to those receiving an attention-equivalent control condition. Teens (N = 840) will be recruited from a publicly-funded STD clinic located in an urban area of the South. After completing an A-CASI assessment, teens will be rated on their ability to apply condoms to a penile model and then asked to donate a urine specimen for STI testing. Specimens will be tested for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, and T. Vaginalis using nucleic acid amplification assays. Randomization will then be achieved by a concealment of allocation technique. Teens will be randomized to immediately receive: 1) a brief (60 minute) theory-based, one-on-one, interactive intervention delivered by a lay health advisor or 2) an attention equivalent control condition. The assessment battery will be repeated 2 months subsequent to enrollment and again 6 months after enrollment. A medical records review will be conducted 12 months after enrollment to compare clinic reported incidence rates between the randomized groups of teens. If incidence of STIs in this population of teens can be decreased as substantially as was found in the previous study of 18 to 29 year-old African American males (percent relative difference = 36.7), the public health significance for African American teen males will substantially contribute to rectify the racial disparity in HIV/STD experienced by African American teen males. By extension, we suggest that their partners (typically African American teen females) will also benefit. Because our program is designed for ease of implementation, the number of dissemination and translation issues will be greatly minimized thereby greatly facilitating the process of translating research into practice.
The proposed efficacy trial tests an innovative method of bridging the gap between research and practice. By providing a brief, clinic-based, HIV/STD prevention program to African American teen males attending an STD clinic, the study will be the first to demonstrate that teen's sexual risk behavior can be reduced without excessive time and resources. The focus on African American teen males is also quite timely given the recent declaration by CDC that AIDS is a """"""""state of emergency"""""""" for African Americans.
