Population Council Research that makes a difference

At the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), Council personnel are providing ACASI software for ongoing and future clinical trials:

• a trial to determine the safety and effectiveness of two different candidate microbicides, with 3,100 sexually active, HIV-negative women participating at seven sites in five countries. At two sites in Malawi, identical interviews—one face-to-face, one ACASI—will be conducted with the same participants to see whether answers differ and, if so, by how much.
• the first study to compare the safety and efficacy of oral versus topical pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV. Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) is designed as a five-arm, double-blinded study in which women are first randomized to receive either gel or oral PrEP, and then within each group, randomly assigned to either tenofovir topical gel or placebo gel; or to oral tenofovir, oral Truvada or oral placebo. The study will enroll approximately 5,000 women at sites in South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and, pending government approval, Malawi. ACASI will be used to ask the questions deemed most sensitive.

The Council itself is conducting an experiment evaluating face-to-face versus computerized interviewing at three sites in South Africa where the candidate microbicide Carraguard® was tested. The study is assessing the accuracy of participants’ self-reported compliance to the agreed-to behavior called for by the study. The study is also investigating the reporting of sexual and other risk behaviors and collecting various biomarkers for sexually transmitted infections to test reporting accuracy. Data collection has been completed and analysis is currently underway.

Audio computer-assisted self-interviewing is an exciting new tool for researchers, who need the most accurate information possible in order to draw valid conclusions. There is every reason to expect that ACASI will lend itself to adaptation for many fields, as its use for different reproductive health and microbicide studies demonstrates.

"Improving public health through software" (PDF) 
Mierzwa,Stan; Souidi,Samir
Publication date: 2009


Use of computer-assisted self-interview to assess product use in microbicide trials: Lessons learned in HPTN 035 (PDF) 
Poster presentation at the 18th International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR), London, 28 June-1 July
McVarish,L.; Gorbach,Pamina M.; Mensch,Barbara S.; Coly,Astou; Young,A.; Masse,Benoit R.; Makanani,Bonus; Chinula,Lameck; Nkhoma,Chiwawa; Tembo,T.; Mierzwa,Stan; Reynolds,Kimberly; Hurst,Stacey; Coletti,Anne S.; Forsyth,Andrew
Publication date: 2009


Assessing the reporting of adherence and sexual activity in a simulated microbicide trial: Preliminary results from an interview mode experiment in the Phase 3 Carraguard® sites, South Africa (PDF) 
Poster presented at Microbicides 2008, New Delhi, 24-27 February
Mensch,Barbara S.; Hewett,Paul C.; Rankin,Johanna; Littlefield,Sarah A.; Abbott,Sharon; Ahmed,Khatija; Cassim,Nazira; Patel,Smruti; Mehlomakulu,Vuyelwa; Ramjee,Gita; Palanee,Thesla; Skoler,Stephanie; Gehret,Marlena; Govender,Sumentheran N.
Publication date: 2008


Consistency in women's reports of sensitive behavior in an interview mode experiment, Sáo Paulo, Brazil (abstract) (HTML) 
Mensch,Barbara S.; Hewett,Paul C.; Jones,Heidi E.; Luppi,Carla Gianni; Lippman,Sheri A.; Pinho,Adriana A.; Diaz,Juan
International Family Planning Perspectives 34(4): 169-176
Publication date: 2008


The contribution of behavioral research to microbicide trials: Taking stock (PDF) 
Plenary address at Microbicides 2008, New Delhi, 24-27 February
Mensch,Barbara S.
Publication date: 2008