Active Search for Pediatric HIV/AIDS (ASPA)

Introduction: Globally in 2014, the antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage rate amongst children was 32% against 41% in adults, and in Cameroon this gap was even wider (10.4% % vs 28%). Identifying and linking children to care are key barriers to effective expansion of pediatric ART in resources-limited settings. To identify HIV-infected children and enroll positive cases in care, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended in 2007, the provider-initiated-testing and counseling (PITC) strategy. The blanket PITC (bPITC), whereby all children consulting in the health facility have to be screened for HIV requires a lot of resources in terms of HIV testing kits and supplies in addition to the increased workload on the already overburden health personnel in resource-limited settings. Conversely, the targeted PITC approach (tPITC) where children born to HIV-infected parents are offered HIV testing and counseling seems more feasible and effective. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of tPITC in comparison with bPITC in case detection of HIV-infected children and adolescents. The secondary objective is to assess the acceptability and feasibility of tPITC in comparison with bPTIC among children and adolescents in Cameroon.

Methods:

Design: The investigator will conduct in 3 health facilities a non-randomized controlled pragmatic trial comparing the effectiveness of the targeted (intervention arm) against the blanket PITC (control arm) in case finding and linkage of HIV-infected children and adolescents in HIV treatment.

Study population: For the intervention arm, the study population will be children and adolescents between 6 weeks to 19 years born to HIV-infected parents and the control arm will be children of the same age group seeking care in the hospital irrespective of the motive of consultations.

Procedure: The study will be implemented in the Limbe Regional Hospital (South West Region), the Abong-Mbang District Hospital (East Region) and the Ndop District Hospital (North West Region) in Cameroon for a period of 36 months. Prior to the conduct of the study, health facility staff will be trained in PITC implementation. Testing kits and supplies will be made available to the site. Enrolment in the 2 arms will be done simultaneously till completion of the sample size. The HIV testing and ART eligibility assessment will be done following the national guidelines.

Sample size calculation: Based on the results of the pilot of this targeted PITC, we believe that with its implementation, the yield of newly diagnosed HIV cases amongst children should at least equal the double of the yield the blanket PITC (control arm) in same health facility. Therefore, the investigators have calculated the sample size to detect the minimum effect in the intervention group equal to at least the double of the yield in the control arm. Computing the formula for sample size calculation of 2 independent samples, we obtained a sample size of 435 children per arm. Hence a total sample size of 870 children.

Data collection, management and analysis: Socio-demographic data for children and parents, HIV status and ART eligibility, linkage to care and HIV treatment outcome will be collected using standardized pre-tested questionnaires. A database will be developed on Microsoft Access for data entry. Data entry will be done progressively till the study sample size is attained. Data analysis will be done using SPSS software and findings will be reported using both descriptive and analytical statistics.

Ethical considerations: Parents' informed consent and children' assent will be required for enrollment into the study. The study will obtain an ethical clearance prior to implementation.

Outcome: This study will assess the effectiveness of targeted PITC in case identification and linkage of HIV-infected children to care/treatment. This new knowledge could be used to reduce the current global gap in pediatric and adolescent HIV treatment.