Improving Blood Safety and HIV Testing in Brazil
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01681420 |
Recruitment Status
:
Completed
First Posted
: September 10, 2012
Last Update Posted
: January 18, 2018
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
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HIV Herpes Simplex 2 Hepatitis C Hepatitis B Chagas Disease | Behavioral: HIV Counseling and Testing Behavioral: Blood Donation | Not Applicable |
Although all donated blood is screened for HIV antibodies, a residual risk of contamination persists due to the immunological window period before antibodies are detectable. Deferral of donors with behavioral risks for HIV is one means to reduce window period contamination; recruitment of voluntary donors from the community (versus family replacement donors) is held to be another. Contrary to expectation, a shift to community donors has not resulted in a decrease in HIV prevalence in units of blood collected by the investigators transfusion service. The investigators preliminary research indicates that some persons at elevated risk use donation as a means of testing for HIV. These test-seeking donors have high trust in the blood bank, do not know other places to receive testing, have low understanding of the immunological window period and believe it is acceptable to deny risk in order to be tested through donation. The test-seeking phenomenon may therefore threaten the safety of the blood supply. Test seeking at blood banks also ill serves persons who need risk reduction counseling because they cannot disclose their true behavior during the donation process and still be tested. Donors also have a low rate of return for test results and therefore do not receive confirmation or referrals to care.
To assess whether HCT at the time of donation will improve blood safety and address prevention and care needs, the investigators will randomize donor candidates to be offered this service on-site. As a biological marker for elevated risk for HIV, the investigators will compare the prevalence of HSV-2 among donors choosing testing to those choosing to donate when offered the choice (Aim 1). The impact of the intervention will be measured as an increase in persons receiving their test results, disclosure counseling and referrals (Aim 2). Secondary outcomes include differences in prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (HIV, HCV, HBV, syphilis, HTLV I/II, Chagas disease), donor motivations (e.g., test-seeking vs. altruism), donor deferral rates, use of confidential unit exclusion, satisfaction with procedures of the blood bank and volume of blood available for use. RCT results will provide rigorous evidence for or against the provision of on-site HCT as an effective means to improve blood safety and link individuals to needed health services.
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 11900 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Factorial Assignment |
Masking: | None (Open Label) |
Primary Purpose: | Prevention |
Official Title: | Improving Blood Safety and HIV Testing in Brazil: a Randomized Controlled Trial |
Actual Study Start Date : | August 1, 2012 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | May 31, 2013 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | January 31, 2015 |
Arm | Intervention/treatment |
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Experimental: Approved Intervention Counseling
Approved blood donors randomized to intervention and choosing HIV counseling option with no donation.
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Behavioral: HIV Counseling and Testing
HIV counseling and testing in lieu of blood donation.
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Experimental: Approved Intervention Donation
Approved blood donors randomized to intervention and choosing donation with no HIV counseling.
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Behavioral: Blood Donation
Blood donation without HIV counseling
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Experimental: Deferred Intervention
Deferred blood donors randomized to intervention with HIV counseling.
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Behavioral: HIV Counseling and Testing
HIV counseling and testing in lieu of blood donation.
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- HSV-2 Prevalence in Blood Donors [ Time Frame: Up to three years. ]As a biological marker for elevated risk for HIV, we will compare the prevalence of HSV-2 among donors choosing testing to those choosing to donate when offered the choice.
- Intervention Impact in Blood Donors [ Time Frame: Up to three years. ]The impact of the intervention will be measured as an increase in persons receiving their test results, disclosure counseling and referrals.
- Prevalence of Transfusion-Transmitted Infections in Blood Donors [ Time Frame: Up to three years. ]Differences in prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (HIV, HCV, HBV, syphilis, HTLV I/II, Chagas disease) between arms.

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | Yes |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Study subjects will be Portuguese-speaking persons age 18-65 years (determined by Brazilian law to be the age of donation), who present to donate blood at our center during the study period and who provide written informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria:
- All those not meeting inclusion criteria.

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01681420
Brazil | |
Fundação Pró-sangue Hemocentro de São Paulo | |
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 05403-000 |
Principal Investigator: | Thelma T. Goncalez, MD, PhD | Blood Systems Research Institute |
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Responsible Party: | Blood Systems Research Institute |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT01681420 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
10849 |
First Posted: | September 10, 2012 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | January 18, 2018 |
Last Verified: | January 2018 |
Keywords provided by Blood Systems Research Institute:
HIV counseling Blood donor HIV testing Brazil Blood banks Blood donors |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Hepatitis Hepatitis A Hepatitis C Hepatitis B Herpes Simplex Chagas Disease Liver Diseases Digestive System Diseases Hepatitis, Viral, Human Virus Diseases Enterovirus Infections Picornaviridae Infections |
RNA Virus Infections Flaviviridae Infections Hepadnaviridae Infections DNA Virus Infections Herpesviridae Infections Skin Diseases, Viral Skin Diseases, Infectious Skin Diseases Trypanosomiasis Euglenozoa Infections Protozoan Infections Parasitic Diseases |