CHAMPIONS part 2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Capturing hepatitis C diagnoses amongst MSM using peer networks to improve linkage to Services: Part 2
IRAS ID
318015
Contact name
Nina Vora
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
university College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 6 days
Research summary
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the second leading cause of liver disease in the UK, affecting 81,000 people in England alone. Whilst the availability of new well tolerated oral medication provides an opportunity to eliminate this virus, it remains a problem within a subgroup of MSM in the UK. In part, this is because MSM at risk of HCV either do not attend services, or do not undertake HCV testing if they do, which means that many with HCV are undiagnosed with the consequence that sexual transmission continues. Furthermore, the MSM at highest risk of HCV often have multiple anonymous sexual partners, which renders traditional partner notification ineffective for HCV control. Reinfection rates are high in this population, suggesting these MSM are part of a wider network with ongoing transmission of HCV. Risk for HCV is likely to cluster not only among sexual partners but within social networks too. The use of social network strategies, using MSM to recruit peers from their social networks, has been used as an approach to identify and test hardly reached patients with and at risk of HIV, but no-one has used this approach for HCV in the UK. A social network intervention which aims to penetrate through social networks, might be effective at increasing testing for HCV among MSM with or at risk of HCV and this could contribute to the HCV elimination effort. CHAMPIONS aims to explore this concept, provide an evidence base for an intervention, and undertake a pilot study to decide whether to take this work further. It is a mixed methods pilot consisting of an online questionnaire, collect self-taken dried blood spot samples that will be tested in an laboratory for HCV, HIV and hepatitis B, and a follow up questionnaire. A subset of participants will undertake 1:1 semi-structured interviews.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0273
Date of REC Opinion
25 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion