Trial reportBMC infectious diseases2020
A randomized controlled trial study of the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary impact of SITA (SMS as an Incentive To Adhere): a mobile technology-based intervention informed by behavioral economics to improve ART adherence among youth in Uganda.
Trial report in BMC infectious diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02514356 (A Small Randomized Controlled Trial Providing Weekly Information by SMS About Own and Group-level ARV Adherence to Patients in Two Clinics in Uganda), which is not on this map. Cited by 35 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Small Randomized Controlled Trial Providing Weekly Information by SMS About Own and Group-level ARV Adherence to Patients in Two Clinics in Uganda
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Impact of Behavioural Economics-Informed Interventions on the Care Cascade for Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Pooled it
- The effectiveness of monetary incentives in improving viral suppression, treatment adherence, and retention in care among the general population of people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.AIDS research and therapy · 2025Pooled it
- The role of digital tools in enhancing antiretroviral therapy adherence among adolescents and young adults with HIV: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Behavioural Economics Informed Interventions for the Prevention, Screening, and Antiretroviral Treatment of HIV Infection: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.AIDS and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic Review of mHealth Interventions for Adolescent and Young Adult HIV Prevention and the Adolescent HIV Continuum of Care in Low to Middle Income Countries.AIDS and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Does telehealth affect the adherence to ART among patients with HIV? A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness, Acceptability and Feasibility of Technology-Enabled Health Interventions for Adolescents Living with HIV in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of eHealth Interventions for HIV Prevention and Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review and Meta-analyses.AIDS and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Psychosocial interventions for improving engagement in care and health and behavioural outcomes for adolescents and young people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2021Pooled it
- Behaviourally-Informed Two-Way Text Messaging to Improve Return to HIV Care in South Africa: Evidence from a Randomised Controlled Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2025Trial
- Effect of SMS reminders on PrEP adherence in young Kenyan women (MPYA study): a randomised controlled trial.The lancet. HIV · 2021Trial
- Peer network approaches for improving HIV testing, prevention and care utilisation among men in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Feasibility of smartphone-enabled asynchronous video directly observed therapy to improve viral suppression outcomes among HIV unsuppressed children and adolescents in Kenya.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Acceptability of an online peer support group as a strategy to improve antiretroviral therapy adherence among young people in Kampala district, Uganda: qualitative findings.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Implementation Strategies for Digital HIV Prevention and Care Interventions for Youth: A Scoping Review.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2025Article
- HIV interventions across the care continuum for adolescents in high-burden countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- The association between adherence to antiretroviral therapy and viral suppression under dolutegravir-based regimens: an observational cohort study from Uganda.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Observational
- Facilitated WhatsApp Support Groups for Youth Living With HIV in Nairobi, Kenya: Single-Arm Pilot Intervention Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies report serious adherence problems among youth (individuals age 15-24 years of age) in Uganda. Recent growth in mobile phone ownership has highlighted the potential of using text-based interventions to improve antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence among Ugandan youth. We piloted a randomized controlled trial of a text-based intervention providing weekly real-time antiretroviral adherence feedback, based on information from a smart pill box, to HIV-positive Ugandan youth. In this paper, we report the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary impact of the intervention.
methodsWe randomized participants to a control group, or to receive messages with information on either their own adherence levels (Treatment 1 - T1), or their own adherence and peer adherence levels (Treatment 2 - T2). We conducted six focus groups from December 2016 to March 2017 with providers and youth ages 15-24, double coded 130 excerpts, and achieved a pooled Cohen's Kappa of 0.79 and 0.80 based on 34 randomly selected excerpts.
resultsThe quantitative and qualitative data show that the intervention was deemed acceptable and feasible. After controlling for baseline adherence, the T1 group had 3.8 percentage point lower adherence than the control group (95% CI -9.9, 2.3) and the T2 group had 2.4 percentage points higher adherence than the control group (95% CI -3.0, 7.9). However, there was an increasing treatment effect over time for the T2 group with the largest effect towards the end of the study; a 2.5 percentage point increase in the initial 9-weeks that grows steadily to 9.0 percentage points by the last 9-weeks of the study. We find negative treatment effects for T1 in 3 of the 4 9-week intervals. This pilot study was not designed to detect statistically significant differences.
conclusionsImproving youth's adherence by supplementing information about their adherence with information about the adherence of peers is a promising new strategy that should be further evaluated in a fully-powered study. Providing one's own adherence information alone appears to have less potential.
trial registrationNCT02514356 07/30/2015.
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