Stigma, SocialLIFTNCT07541131
Lower Intersecting HIV-related Stigmas to Facilitate Treatment as Prevention (LIFT)
A study testing LIFT for People Who Use Drugs and LIFT for MMT Providers in people with Stigma, Social and Drug Abuse Illicit, run by University of California, San Diego at 1 site in Kyrgyzstan.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to reduce HIV transmission risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) through a multilevel intervention known as LIFT. LIFT intervenes to build intragroup PWID support at the community-level to reduce overall drug use and stigma. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Stigma, Social, Drug Abuse Illicit, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
- What is being tested?
- LIFT for People Who Use Drugs and LIFT for MMT Providers
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 80 participants
- Where
- 1 siteKyrgyzstan
- Study dates
- 9 Feb 2026to Oct 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Eligible PWID will meet the following inclusion criteria:
- reports injecting drugs or using drugs with someone who was injecting in the past 12 months before enrollment,
- is currently using illicit drugs (salts, synthetics, pharmaceuticals or opioids) including poly drug use,
- ≥ 18 years old,
- live in one of the two eligible districts
- report no intentions to move from Bishkek in the next 18 months,
Show all 13Show fewer
- baseline rapid HIV test confirming HIV-negative status, and
- agree to participate in all intervention and assessment activities.
- Eligible MMT Staff participants inclusion criteria:
- All clinical, administrative, and support staff at our two clinical MMT sites and implementation sites are eligible to participate. Inclusion criteria are:
- ≥ 18 years old,
- work in one of the eligible clinics, and
- agree to participate in all intervention and assessment activities.
Who cannot join
- PWID Exclusion criteria are:
- initiated injection drug use in the past 6 months,
- report not currently using illicit drugs,
- are < 18 years old,
- live outside the two eligible districts,
- intend to move outside Bishkek in the next 18 months,
- do not agree to participate in all community-level intervention activities (i.e., five peer-led group sessions, four survey assessments over 18 months), or are confirmed to be living with HIV by self-report or baseline rapid test.
- Note, to protect against unintended HIV status disclosure, PWID who are living with HIV (PWID-HIV) and who meet all other inclusion criteria will be given the option to participate in all study activities. However, PWID-HIV will not be included in our analytic sample of 68 PWID. Study staff will screen all potentially eligible PWID to confirm eligibility, schedule the baseline assessment, and confirmatory rapid HIV test before randomization, with an interviewer not affiliated with LIFT intervention activities.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Official title: Reducing HIV-related Intersectional Stigma and Risk Among People Who Inject Drugs in a High-risk International Setting
The purpose of this study is to reduce HIV transmission risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) through a multilevel intervention known as LIFT. LIFT intervenes to build intragroup PWID support at the community-level to reduce overall drug use and stigma. LIFT also increases efficacy in navigating HIV services in the presence of structural stigma. Additionally, LIFT intervenes on abstinence-based drug use stigma at the health facility-level to improve clinic policy and staff interactions with clients.
This is an implementation study to adapt and pilot a stigma reduction intervention with persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Kyrgyzstan. The intervention includes peer-led group sessions focused on stigma reduction and providing support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The aim will be to adapt, refine, and pilot the intervention among PWID and methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinic staff. Participants will be randomized to the intervention or control arms.
Read the detailed description
Kyrgyzstan is located within a region-Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA)-experiencing the world's most rapidly expanding HIV epidemic. Furthermore, this regional HIV epidemic is predominantly concentrated among persons who inject drugs (PWID). PWID face unique challenges engaging in the HIV care continuum. Intersecting stigmas related to HIV, drug use, and drug treatment (i.e., methadone maintenance therapy) uniquely amplify HIV risk in this population and impede engagement in effective HIV prevention services such as needle and syringe exchange programs, methadone maintenance therapy, and HIV antiretroviral therapy (among PWID with HIV) and Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP; among PWID without HIV).
Kyrgyzstan and the EECA are battling a growing HIV epidemic among PWID not seen in other regions. UNAIDS 2022 report states the EECA has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world, with a 48% increase in new infections since 2010. HIV prevalence among PWID in Kyrgyzstan is high (14.3% PWID vs. 0.2% general population), and HIV incidence is rapidly increasing among sex partners among whom the proportion of new infections increased from 63.0% in 2017 to 86.7% in 2022. Underreporting of stigmatized injection, and same-sex behaviors may partially explain this increase in HIV incidence attributed to sexual transmission. Female sex partners of PWID who reported no injection risk and HIV-negative partners had an HIV prevalence of 4.4% but an HCV prevalence of 13.0%, indicating a high probability of injection-related transmission risk.
As a regional HIV service implementation leader, Kyrgyzstan's approach can inform future EECA HIV responses. Of the 16 UNAIDS-monitored EECA nations, SSP and MMT coverage is low in most, and MMT is illegal in three. MMT was the only form of opioid use disorder medication in seven EECA nations, including Kyrgyzstan although now buprenorphine is also offered as of August 2025. The historic roots of EECA addiction treatment stem from the punitive abstinence-focused legacy of the Soviet-era Narcology system, and MMT is more often seen as an effective HIV prevention tool than an effective drug use treatment given the emergence of MMT in the region via HIV service donor funding. Kyrgyzstan is one of the few EECA nations to provide free evidence-based HIV services nationally (HIV testing, SSP, MMT, antiretroviral therapy [ART], PrEP). Yet, the full HIV prevention power of these services remains untapped. The 2021 national surveillance data report 848 of ~25,000 PWID in Kyrgyzstan are using MMT, and 56% had consistent sterile syringe access. This is concerning as HIV testing is significantly tied to the recent use of these services. Few PWID (8.4%) are estimated to have received PrEP since 2020.
Multilevel strategies to reduce stigma and improve uptake of evidence-based prevention services (e.g., MMT, PrEP) to lower HIV incidence among PWID in this region are needed. Similarly, the U.S. can learn how to increase HIV-related service use among PWID through interventions like LIFT, designed to reduce multilevel intersectional stigma.
- Being tested
- LIFT for People Who Use Drugs, LIFT for MMT Providers
- Keywords
- methadone maintenance treatment, stigma, HIV transmission risk, intersectional stigma, people who inject drugs, pre-exposure prophylaxis
- Medical subject headings
- Social Stigma, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
LIFT for People Who Use DrugsBehavioural
LIFT intervention will include 5 peer-led participatory group sessions to reduce stigma and cultivate intragroup cohesion and support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The intervention content will focus on 1) Naming the Problem (how intersectional stigma manifests and affects health outcomes), challenging myths that drive intersectional stigma and replacing myths with facts related to 2) Fears about drug use and internalized stigma (understanding drug dependence as a health condition), 3) Fears about MMT (understanding methadone treatment as a process, not a last resort), 4) Frears about HIV (understanding the health benefits of knowing ones HIV status and PrEP as a treatment to prevent HIV), and 5) Responding to intersectional stigma (challenging stigma and recognizing human rights and other protections for people who use drugs).
LIFT for MMT ProvidersBehavioural
The LIFT intervention will be comprised of 2-day participatory trainings focused on reducing the drivers of stigma within healthcare settings and will cover the following topics: 1) Building awareness and knowledge of what drug use stigma looks like in maintenance vs. abstinence-focused MMT services, 2) Reducing HIV transmission and promoting healthier options with clients via PrEP and SSP health promotion service referrals, 3) Building stress management, empathy, and reducing social distancing in the clinic setting, and 4) Understanding institutional maintenance of stigma reduction practices and focusing on developing internal clinic policies and practices.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| LIFT Intervention for People Who Use Drugs | Experimental | LIFT intervention will include 5 peer-led participatory group sessions to reduce stigma and cultivate intragroup cohesion and support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The intervention content will focus on 1) Naming the Problem (how intersectional stigma manifests and affects health outcomes), challenging myths that drive intersectional stigma and replacing myths with facts related to 2) Fears about drug use and internalized stigma (understanding drug dependence as a health condition), 3) Fears about MMT (understanding methadone treatment as a process, not a last resort), 4) Frears about HIV (understanding the health benefits of knowing ones HIV status and PrEP as a treatment to prevent HIV), and 5) Responding to intersectional stigma (challenging stigma and recognizing human rights and other protections for people who use drugs). Receives: Behavioral: LIFT for People Who Use Drugs |
| Waitlist Control for People Who Use Drugs | Active comparator | In the control district, all evidence-based HIV services will be delivered as standard of care. PWID living in the control district will have access to SSP outreach services, and MMT care can be accessed at the clinic located in the control district. Outreach workers and MMT clinic staff will not take additional steps to promote HIV testing or PrEP care referrals outside the clinic's standard practice. Once the active intervention phase is complete and the LIFT intervention group completes all study activities, PWID in the control district will be invited to participate in the same LIFT intervention activities described in the intervention arm. Receives: Behavioral: LIFT for People Who Use Drugs |
| LIFT Intervention for MMT Staff | Experimental | The LIFT intervention will be comprised of 2-day participatory trainings focused on reducing the drivers of stigma within healthcare settings and will cover the following topics: 1) Building awareness and knowledge of what drug use stigma looks like in maintenance vs. abstinence-focused MMT services, 2) Reducing HIV transmission and promoting healthier options with clients via PrEP and SSP health promotion service referrals, 3) Building stress management, empathy, and reducing social distancing in the clinic setting, and 4) Understanding institutional maintenance of stigma reduction practices and focusing on developing internal clinic policies and practices. Receives: Behavioral: LIFT for MMT Providers |
| Waitlist Control for MMT Staff | Active comparator | In the control district, all evidence-based HIV services will be delivered as standard of care. The MMT clinic in the control district will still provide MMT care and SSP outreach services can be accessed at the clinic located in the intervention district. Outreach workers and MMT clinic staff will not take additional steps to promote HIV testing or PrEP care referrals outside the clinic's standard practice. Once the active intervention phase is complete and the LIFT intervention group completes all study activities, MMT providers in the control district will be invited to participate in the same LIFT intervention activities described in the intervention arm. Receives: Behavioral: LIFT for MMT Providers |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Overall drug use stigma
Changes in mean levels of overall drug use stigma among participants in the interventoin and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score across multiple anticipated stigma sources (structural systems, family, healthcare workers, other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup]) and internalized drug use [self] stigma via the Substance Use Stigma Mechanisms Scale (SU-SMS)
Measured: 6 months
Intragroup methadone maintenance treatment stigma
Changes in mean levels of intragroup methadone maintenance treatment [MMT] stigma among participants in the intervneton and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score from the MMT Stigma Mechanisms Scale (MMT-SMS), anticipated stigma source (other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup])
Measured: 6 months
Intragroup HIV stigma
Changes in mean levels of intragroup HIV stigma among participants in the interveniton and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score from the HIV Stigma Mechanisms Scale (HIV-SMS), anticipated stigma source (other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup])
Measured: 6 months
MOUD Use (including methadone and buprenorphine)
Frequency of participants in the intervention and control arm who self-report (Yes, No) taking methadone or buprenorphine medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) post-intervention
Measured: 6 months
Secondary outcomes (1)
PrEP Use
Frequency of participants in the intervention and control arm who self-report (Yes, No) taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) post-intervention
Measured: 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Apr 2026
- Study start9 Feb 2026
- Primary completionOct 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionOct 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Stigma, SocialStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of California, San DiegoThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Triple blind
- Who is masked
- Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, San Diego
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Johns Hopkins University, RTI International, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Laramie Smith, University of California, San Diego
- Investigators
- Laramie Smith, PhD, Principal investigator, University of California, San Diego
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07541131
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 808215
- Other IDs
- R34DA059327
- Acronym
- LIFT
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 29 Mar 2026
- Last updated
- 21 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Long-term resources to host public availability and access to the data could not be identified. De-identified data can be shared upon a reasonable request to the PI.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 21 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Reducing HIV-related Intersectional Stigma and Risk Among People Who Inject Drugs in a High-risk International Setting
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07541131
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- LIFT / 808215
- Keywords
- methadone maintenance treatment, stigma, HIV transmission risk, intersectional stigma, people who inject drugs, pre-exposure prophylaxis
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Enrolling by invitation
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, San DiegoUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Johns Hopkins University, RTI International, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- Study start
- 9 Feb 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Oct 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 21 Apr 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to reduce HIV transmission risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) through a multilevel intervention known as LIFT. LIFT intervenes to build intragroup PWID support at the community-level to reduce overall drug use and stigma. LIFT also increases efficacy in navigating HIV services in the presence of structural stigma. Additionally, LIFT intervenes on abstinence-based drug use stigma at the health facility-level to improve clinic policy and staff interactions with clients.
This is an implementation study to adapt and pilot a stigma reduction intervention with persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Kyrgyzstan. The intervention includes peer-led group sessions focused on stigma reduction and providing support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The aim will be to adapt, refine, and pilot the intervention among PWID and methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinic staff. Participants will be randomized to the intervention or control arms.
Detailed description
Kyrgyzstan is located within a region-Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA)-experiencing the world's most rapidly expanding HIV epidemic. Furthermore, this regional HIV epidemic is predominantly concentrated among persons who inject drugs (PWID). PWID face unique challenges engaging in the HIV care continuum. Intersecting stigmas related to HIV, drug use, and drug treatment (i.e., methadone maintenance therapy) uniquely amplify HIV risk in this population and impede engagement in effective HIV prevention services such as needle and syringe exchange programs, methadone maintenance therapy, and HIV antiretroviral therapy (among PWID with HIV) and Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP; among PWID without HIV).
Kyrgyzstan and the EECA are battling a growing HIV epidemic among PWID not seen in other regions. UNAIDS 2022 report states the EECA has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world, with a 48% increase in new infections since 2010. HIV prevalence among PWID in Kyrgyzstan is high (14.3% PWID vs. 0.2% general population), and HIV incidence is rapidly increasing among sex partners among whom the proportion of new infections increased from 63.0% in 2017 to 86.7% in 2022. Underreporting of stigmatized injection, and same-sex behaviors may partially explain this increase in HIV incidence attributed to sexual transmission. Female sex partners of PWID who reported no injection risk and HIV-negative partners had an HIV prevalence of 4.4% but an HCV prevalence of 13.0%, indicating a high probability of injection-related transmission risk.
As a regional HIV service implementation leader, Kyrgyzstan's approach can inform future EECA HIV responses. Of the 16 UNAIDS-monitored EECA nations, SSP and MMT coverage is low in most, and MMT is illegal in three. MMT was the only form of opioid use disorder medication in seven EECA nations, including Kyrgyzstan although now buprenorphine is also offered as of August 2025. The historic roots of EECA addiction treatment stem from the punitive abstinence-focused legacy of the Soviet-era Narcology system, and MMT is more often seen as an effective HIV prevention tool than an effective drug use treatment given the emergence of MMT in the region via HIV service donor funding. Kyrgyzstan is one of the few EECA nations to provide free evidence-based HIV services nationally (HIV testing, SSP, MMT, antiretroviral therapy [ART], PrEP). Yet, the full HIV prevention power of these services remains untapped. The 2021 national surveillance data report 848 of ~25,000 PWID in Kyrgyzstan are using MMT, and 56% had consistent sterile syringe access. This is concerning as HIV testing is significantly tied to the recent use of these services. Few PWID (8.4%) are estimated to have received PrEP since 2020.
Multilevel strategies to reduce stigma and improve uptake of evidence-based prevention services (e.g., MMT, PrEP) to lower HIV incidence among PWID in this region are needed. Similarly, the U.S. can learn how to increase HIV-related service use among PWID through interventions like LIFT, designed to reduce multilevel intersectional stigma.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Triple blind (care provider, investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 4
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| LIFT Intervention for People Who Use Drugs | Experimental | Behavioral: LIFT for People Who Use DrugsLIFT intervention will include 5 peer-led participatory group sessions to reduce stigma and cultivate intragroup cohesion and support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The intervention content will focus on 1) Naming the Problem (how intersectional stigma manifests and affects health outcomes), challenging myths that drive intersectional stigma and replacing myths with facts related to 2) Fears about drug use and internalized stigma (understanding drug dependence as a health condition), 3) Fears about MMT (understanding methadone treatment as a process, not a last resort), 4) Frears about HIV (understanding the health benefits of knowing ones HIV status and PrEP as a treatment to prevent HIV), and 5) Responding to intersectional stigma (challenging stigma and recognizing human rights and other protections for people who use drugs). |
| Waitlist Control for People Who Use Drugs | Active comparator | Behavioral: LIFT for People Who Use DrugsIn the control district, all evidence-based HIV services will be delivered as standard of care. PWID living in the control district will have access to SSP outreach services, and MMT care can be accessed at the clinic located in the control district. Outreach workers and MMT clinic staff will not take additional steps to promote HIV testing or PrEP care referrals outside the clinic's standard practice. Once the active intervention phase is complete and the LIFT intervention group completes all study activities, PWID in the control district will be invited to participate in the same LIFT intervention activities described in the intervention arm. |
| LIFT Intervention for MMT Staff | Experimental | Behavioral: LIFT for MMT ProvidersThe LIFT intervention will be comprised of 2-day participatory trainings focused on reducing the drivers of stigma within healthcare settings and will cover the following topics: 1) Building awareness and knowledge of what drug use stigma looks like in maintenance vs. abstinence-focused MMT services, 2) Reducing HIV transmission and promoting healthier options with clients via PrEP and SSP health promotion service referrals, 3) Building stress management, empathy, and reducing social distancing in the clinic setting, and 4) Understanding institutional maintenance of stigma reduction practices and focusing on developing internal clinic policies and practices. |
| Waitlist Control for MMT Staff | Active comparator | Behavioral: LIFT for MMT ProvidersIn the control district, all evidence-based HIV services will be delivered as standard of care. The MMT clinic in the control district will still provide MMT care and SSP outreach services can be accessed at the clinic located in the intervention district. Outreach workers and MMT clinic staff will not take additional steps to promote HIV testing or PrEP care referrals outside the clinic's standard practice. Once the active intervention phase is complete and the LIFT intervention group completes all study activities, MMT providers in the control district will be invited to participate in the same LIFT intervention activities described in the intervention arm. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (13 listed)
- Eligible PWID will meet the following inclusion criteria:
- All clinical, administrative, and support staff at our two clinical MMT sites and implementation sites are eligible to participate. Inclusion criteria are:
- ≥ 18 years old,
- work in one of the eligible clinics, and
- agree to participate in all intervention and assessment activities.
Key exclusion criteria (8 listed)
- PWID Exclusion criteria are:
- Note, to protect against unintended HIV status disclosure, PWID who are living with HIV (PWID-HIV) and who meet all other inclusion criteria will be given the option to participate in all study activities. However, PWID-HIV will not be included in our analytic sample of 68 PWID. Study staff will screen all potentially eligible PWID to confirm eligibility, schedule the baseline assessment, and confirmatory rapid HIV test before randomization, with an interviewer not affiliated with LIFT intervention activities.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| LIFT for People Who Use DrugsLIFT intervention will include 5 peer-led participatory group sessions to reduce stigma and cultivate intragroup cohesion and support to increase HIV prevention efficacy. The intervention content will focus on 1) Naming the Problem (how intersectional stigma manifests and affects health outcomes), challenging myths that drive intersectional stigma and replacing myths with facts related to 2) Fears about drug use and internalized stigma (understanding drug dependence as a health condition), 3) Fears about MMT (understanding methadone treatment as a process, not a last resort), 4) Frears about HIV (understanding the health benefits of knowing ones HIV status and PrEP as a treatment to prevent HIV), and 5) Responding to intersectional stigma (challenging stigma and recognizing human rights and other protections for people who use drugs). | Behavioural | LIFT Intervention for People Who Use Drugs, Waitlist Control for People Who Use Drugs |
| LIFT for MMT ProvidersThe LIFT intervention will be comprised of 2-day participatory trainings focused on reducing the drivers of stigma within healthcare settings and will cover the following topics: 1) Building awareness and knowledge of what drug use stigma looks like in maintenance vs. abstinence-focused MMT services, 2) Reducing HIV transmission and promoting healthier options with clients via PrEP and SSP health promotion service referrals, 3) Building stress management, empathy, and reducing social distancing in the clinic setting, and 4) Understanding institutional maintenance of stigma reduction practices and focusing on developing internal clinic policies and practices. | Behavioural | LIFT Intervention for MMT Staff, Waitlist Control for MMT Staff |
Primary outcome
Overall drug use stigma
Time frame: 6 months
Changes in mean levels of overall drug use stigma among participants in the interventoin and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score across multiple anticipated stigma sources (structural systems, family, healthcare workers, other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup]) and internalized drug use [self] stigma via the Substance Use Stigma Mechanisms Scale (SU-SMS)
Intragroup methadone maintenance treatment stigma
Time frame: 6 months
Changes in mean levels of intragroup methadone maintenance treatment [MMT] stigma among participants in the intervneton and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score from the MMT Stigma Mechanisms Scale (MMT-SMS), anticipated stigma source (other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup])
Intragroup HIV stigma
Time frame: 6 months
Changes in mean levels of intragroup HIV stigma among participants in the interveniton and control arm post-intervention will be measured as a mean composite score from the HIV Stigma Mechanisms Scale (HIV-SMS), anticipated stigma source (other people who inject/use drugs [intragroup])
MOUD Use (including methadone and buprenorphine)
Time frame: 6 months
Frequency of participants in the intervention and control arm who self-report (Yes, No) taking methadone or buprenorphine medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) post-intervention
1 secondary outcome
PrEP Use
Time frame: 6 months
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 21 Apr 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Long-term resources to host public availability and access to the data could not be identified. De-identified data can be shared upon a reasonable request to the PI.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Laramie Smith, PhD principal investigator
University of California, San Diego
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing LIFT for People Who Use Drugs and LIFT for MMT Providers in people with Stigma, Social and Drug Abuse Illicit, run by University of California, San Diego at 1 site in Kyrgyzstan.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 13 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: enrolling by invitation, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Kyrgyzstan. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Overall drug use stigma (time frame: 6 months). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Apr 2026.