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Effect of savings-led economic empowerment on HIV preventive practices among orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda: results from the Suubi-Maka randomized experiment.

ABSTRACT: Improving economic resources of impoverished youth may alter intentions to engage in sexual risk behaviors by motivating positive future planning to avoid HIV risk and by altering economic contexts contributing to HIV risk. Yet, few studies have examined the effect of economic-strengthening on economic and sexual behaviors of orphaned youth, despite high poverty and high HIV infection in this population. Hierarchal longitudinal regressions were used to examine the effect of a savings-led economic empowerment intervention, the Suubi-Maka Project, on changes in orphaned adolescents' cash savings and attitudes toward savings and HIV-preventive practices over time. We randomized 346 Ugandan adolescents, aged 10-17 years, to either the control group receiving usual orphan care plus mentoring (n?=?167) or the intervention group receiving usual orphan care plus mentoring, financial education, and matched savings accounts (n?=?179). Assessments were conducted at baseline, 12, and 24 months. Results indicated that intervention adolescents significantly increased their cash savings over time (b?=?$US12.32, ±1.12, p?

SUBMITTER: Jennings L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4747687 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect of savings-led economic empowerment on HIV preventive practices among orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda: results from the Suubi-Maka randomized experiment.

Jennings Larissa L Ssewamala Fred M FM Nabunya Proscovia P

AIDS care 20151107 3

Improving economic resources of impoverished youth may alter intentions to engage in sexual risk behaviors by motivating positive future planning to avoid HIV risk and by altering economic contexts contributing to HIV risk. Yet, few studies have examined the effect of economic-strengthening on economic and sexual behaviors of orphaned youth, despite high poverty and high HIV infection in this population. Hierarchal longitudinal regressions were used to examine the effect of a savings-led economi ...[more]

PMID: 26548549

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Project description:BackgroundChildren who have lost a parent to HIV/AIDS, known as AIDS orphans, face multiple stressors affecting their health and development. Family economic empowerment (FEE) interventions have the potential to improve these outcomes and mitigate the risks they face. We present efficacy and cost-effectiveness analyses of the Bridges study, a savings-led FEE intervention among AIDS-orphaned adolescents in Uganda at four-year follow-up.MethodsIntent-to-treat analyses using multilevel models compared the effects of two savings-led treatment arms: Bridges (1:1 matched incentive) and BridgesPLUS (2:1 matched incentive) to a usual care control group on the following outcomes: self-rated health, sexual health, and mental health functioning. Total per-participant costs for each arm were calculated using the treatment-on-the-treated sample. Intervention effects and per-participant costs were used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).FindingsAmong 1,383 participants, 55% were female, 20% were double orphans. Mean age was 12 years at baseline. At 48-months, BridgesPLUS significantly improved self-rated health, (0.25, 95% CI 0.06, 0.43), HIV knowledge (0.21, 95% CI 0.01, 0.41), self-concept (0.26, 95% CI 0.09, 0.44), and self-efficacy (0.26, 95% CI 0.09, 0.43) and lowered hopelessness (-0.28, 95% CI -0.43, -0.12); whereas Bridges improved self-rated health (0.26, 95% CI 0.08, 0.43) and HIV knowledge (0.22, 95% CI 0.05, 0.39). ICERs ranged from $224 for hopelessness to $298 for HIV knowledge per 0.2 standard deviation change.ConclusionsMost intervention effects were sustained in both treatment arms at two years post-intervention. Higher matching incentives yielded a significant and lasting effect on a greater number of outcomes among adolescents compared to lower matching incentives at a similar incremental cost per unit effect. These findings contribute to the evidence supporting the incorporation of FEE interventions within national social protection frameworks.

Project description:BackgroundGlobally, 1.8 million children<15 years are living with HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as a region, is heavily burdened by HIV, with 90% of new infections among children happening there. Within SSA, Uganda has an HIV prevalence of 7.2% among 15-49-year-olds, with high prevalence in Masaka region (12%). Uganda also reports unprecedented numbers of perinatally HIV-infected children, with close to 150,000 children (ages 0-14) living with HIV (CLHA). However adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among children and youth is poor, and has been attributed to economic insecurity, including lack of finances for transportation to clinic appointments, inadequate meals to support medication consumption, and resource prioritization towards school expenses. Yet, few programs aimed at addressing ART adherence have applied combination interventions to address economic stability and ART Adherence within the traditional framework of health education and HIV care. This paper describes a study protocol for a 5-year, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) funded, cluster randomized-controlled trial to evaluate a combination intervention, titled Suubi + Adherence, aimed at improving ART adherence among HIV perinatally infected adolescents (ages 10-16 at study enrollment) in Uganda.MethodsSuubi + Adherence was evaluated via a two-arm cluster randomized-controlled trial design in 39 health clinics, with a total enrollment of 702 HIV + adolescents (ages 10-16 at enrollment). The study addresses two primary outcomes: 1) adherence to HIV treatment regimen and 2) HIV knowledge and attitudes. Secondary outcomes include family functioning, sexual risk-taking behavior, and financial savings behavior. For potential scale-up, cost effectiveness analysis was employed to compare the relative costs and outcomes associated with each study arm: family economic strengthening comprising matched savings accounts, financial management training and small business development, all intended for family economic security versus bolstered usual care (SOC) comprising enhanced adherence sessions to ensure more standardized and sufficient adherence counseling.DiscussionThis study aims to advance knowledge and inform the development of the next generation of programs aimed at increasing adherence to HIV treatment for HIV + adolescents in low-resource regions such as SSA. To our knowledge, the proposed study is the first to integrate and test family economic empowerment and stability-focused interventions for HIV + adolescents in Uganda (and much of SSA)-so families would have the necessary finances to manage HIV/AIDS as a chronic illness. The study would provide crucial evidence about the effects of an economic empowerment program on short and long-term impact, which is essential if such interventions are to be taken to scale.Trial registrationThis trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (registration number: NCT01790373) on 13 February 2013.

Project description:BackgroundThe rapid scale-up of HIV therapy across Africa has failed to adequately engage adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV). Retention and viral suppression for this group (ALWHIV) is 50% lower than for adults. Indeed, on the African continent, HIV remains the single leading cause of mortality among adolescents. Strategies tailored to the unqiue developmental and social vulnerabilities of this group are urgently needed to enhance successful treatment.MethodsWe carried out a five-year longitudinal cluster randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01790373) with adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV) ages 10 to 16 years clustered at health care clinics to test the effect of a family economic empowerment (EE) intervention on viral suppression in five districuts in Uganda. In total, 39 accredited health care clinics from study districts with existing procedures tailored to adolescent adherence were eligible to participate in the trial. We used data from 288 youth with detectable HIV viral loads (VL) at baseline (158 -intervention group from 20 clinics, 130 -non-intervention group from 19 clinics). The primary end point was undetectable plasma HIV RNA levels, defined as < 40 copies/ml. We used Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis and Cox proportional hazard models to estimate intervention effects.FindingsThe Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis indicated that an incidence of undetectable VL (0.254) was significantly higher in the intervention condition compared to 0.173 (in non-intervention arm) translated into incidence rate ratio of 1.468 (CI: 1.064-2.038), p = 0.008. Cox regression results showed that along with the family-based EE intervention (adj. HR = 1.446, CI: 1.073-1.949, p = 0.015), higher number of medications per day had significant positive effects on the viral suppression (adj.HR = 1.852, CI: 1.275-2.690, p = 0.001).InterpretationA family economic empowerment intervention improved treatment success for ALWHIV in Uganda. Analyses of cost effectiveness and scalability are needed to advance incorporation of this intervention into routine practice in low and middle-income countries.

Project description:IntroductionEvidence from low-resource settings indicates that economic insecurity is a major barrier to HIV treatment adherence. Economic empowerment (EE) interventions have the potential to improve adherence outcomes among adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV) by mitigating the effects of poverty. This study aims to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a savings-led family-based EE intervention, Suubi + Adherence, aimed at improving antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence outcomes ALWHIV in Uganda.MethodsAdolescents (mean age 12 years at enrolment; 56% female) receiving ART for HIV at 39 health centres were randomized to Suubi + Adherence intervention (n = 358) or bolstered standard of care (BSOC; n = 344). A difference-in-differences analysis was employed to assess the change in the proportion of virally suppressed adolescents (HIV RNA viral load <40 copies/mL) over 24 months. The cost-effectiveness analysis examined how much the intervention cost to virally suppress one additional adolescent relative to BSOC from the healthcare provider perspective.ResultsAt 24 months, the intervention was associated with an 8.85-percentage point [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.80 to 16.90 percentage points] increase in the proportion of virally suppressed adolescents between the study arms (p = 0.032). Per-participant costs were US$177 and US$263 for the BSOC and intervention groups respectively. The incremental cost of virally suppressing one additional adolescent was estimated at US$970 [95% CI, US$508 to 10,725] over two years.ConclusionsOur results support the integration of family-based EE interventions into adherence-support strategies as part of routine HIV care in low-resource settings to address the underlying economic drivers of poor ART adherence among ALWHIV. Moreover, per-participant costs to achieve viral suppression do not seem prohibitive compared to other community-based adherence interventions targeted at ALWHIV in low-resource settings. Further research on combination interventions at the nexus of economic security and HIV treatment and care is needed to inform the development of feasible and scalable HIV policies and programmes.

Project description:Some evidence points to the positive effects of asset accumulation programs on mental health of children living in low-resource contexts. However, no evidence exists as to why and how such impact occurs. Our study aims to understand whether child poverty, child work, and household wealth serve as pathways through which the economic strengthening intervention affects the mental health of AIDS-orphaned children. The study employed a cluster-randomized experimental design with a family-based economic strengthening intervention conducted among 1410 school-going AIDS-orphaned children ages 10 and 16 years old in 48 primary schools in South Western Uganda. To test the hypothesized relationships between the intervention, mediators (household wealth, child poverty, and child's work) and mental health, we ran structural equation models that adjust for clustering of individuals within schools and account for potential correlation among the mediators. We found significant unmediated effect of the intervention on children's mental health at 24 months (B = -0.59; 95% CI: 0.93, -0.25; p < 0.001; β = -0.33). Furthermore, the results suggest that participation in the intervention reduced child poverty at 12 months, which in turn improved latent mental health outcome at 24 months (B = -0.14; 95% CI: -0.29, -0.01; p < 0.06; β = -0.08). In addition, though not statistically significant at the 0.05 level, at 36 and 48 months, mental health of children in the treatment group improved by 0.13 and 0.16 standard deviation points correspondingly with no evidence of mediation. Our findings suggest that anti-poverty programs that aim solely to improve household income may be less advantageous to children's mental health as compared to those that are specifically targeted towards reducing the impact of poverty on children. Further studies using more comprehensive measures of child work and age-appropriate child mental health may shed more light on understanding the link between asset accumulation interventions, child labor and children's mental health.

Dataset Information

Effect of savings-led economic empowerment on HIV preventive practices among orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda: results from the Suubi-Maka randomized experiment.

Publications

Effect of savings-led economic empowerment on HIV preventive practices among orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda: results from the Suubi-Maka randomized experiment.

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