CHOP Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Challenges and Opportunities of PrEP Study
IRAS ID
238439
Contact name
Jane Nicholls
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Sponsor Reference Number University of Bristol, 2872; FEC reference number, 258572; ORCA reference number, 70038
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) is the use of anti-HIV medications to keep HIV negative people from becoming infected. It is known to be safe and effective and is thought to be one of the reasons why the number of new HIV infections in London is dropping.
One of the benefits of PrEP is that sexual health services are starting to focus on how best to meet the needs of their population most at risk of HIV, especially those who did not attend clinic before.
This study will focus on Unity clinic attendees most at risk of acquiring HIV - men who have sex with men (MSM) and TPSM (trans people who have sex with men). We believe such groups are key to the success of PrEP as part of the combination prevention strategy to drive down the number of new infections. We will ascertain how many 'at risk' MSM and TPSM attend the service and observe any trends.
MSM and TPSM attendees will be invited to complete and online questionnaire which will explore their motivation for attending clinic and will ask about sexual behaviour and perception of HIV risk. It will ask them how they would like to be offered tests for sexual infections in future.
Some will also be asked to take part in an interview to explore these ideas further.
The challenges with PrEP include trying to engage the right people in the service. The opportunities with PrEP include driving down rates of sexual infections by testing the right people more frequently. The study is therefore called CHOP Challenges and Opportunities of PrEP but is a broader observational study into sexual behaviours, perception of risk and motivation for testing, with a view to providing in the future an acceptable testing service for those most at risk of acquiring HIV.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0142
Date of REC Opinion
14 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion