Tests Kisoboka to help men with HIV in fishing communities reduce hazardous drinking
Tests a counseling program to reduce heavy drinking and improve HIV medicine use in men.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Reducing Hazardous Alcohol Use and Optimizing Treatment as Prevention Among Men Living With HIV in Risk Environments
Key facts
- Where
- Kampala, UgandaSee the site
AI summary: who the study is looking for
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for men living with HIV who drink alcohol at hazardous levels, live in fishing communities, and may not be controlling the virus well with their HIV medicines.
- Age
- 18 years or older.
- Sex
- Men only.
- Disease stage
- Living with HIV, on HIV treatment for more than 6 months, with signs that treatment is not fully working (a detectable viral load, or missed doses with an old or missing viral load result).
- Earlier treatment
- Must have started HIV medicine (ART) more than 6 months ago.
- Biomarker or test result
- AUDIT-C score of 4 or more (a drinking questionnaire). Last HIV viral load test above 20, or a missing test for 13 months with 2 or more missed doses in the past 2 weeks.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Visibly drunk at enrollment (can join when not drunk)
- Does not speak Luganda or English
- Gets most work payments by mobile money or digital payments
- Took part in the Kisoboka pilot trial
- Cannot read basic Luganda or English
Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Where in Uganda
- Makerere University Walter Reed Program affiliated sites in Buikwe, Nakasongola, Mukono, and Kayunga DistrictsKampala, UgandaContact: Program DirectorTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorTrial details
- Who runs it
- San Diego State University
- Trial code
- NCT06771843
- Record updated
- 12 May 2026
- Original description
The investigators developed the Kisoboka ("It is possible") Intervention to address limitations of existing evidence-based interventions to optimize treatment as prevention among men living with HIV who drink alcohol at hazardous levels in "risk environments" such as fishing communities through reductions in hazardous alcohol use, improved adherence to HIV medications and achieving undetectable HIV viral loads.Read full original descriptionShow less
Kisoboka: Reducing Hazardous Alcohol Use and Optimizing Treatment as Prevention Among Men Living With HIV in Risk Environments
The investigators developed the Kisoboka ("It is possible") Intervention to address limitations of existing evidence-based interventions to optimize treatment as prevention among men living with HIV who drink alcohol at hazardous levels in "risk environments" such as fishing communities through reductions in hazardous alcohol use, improved adherence to HIV medications and achieving undetectable HIV viral loads.
Social and structural determinants unique to fishing communities interact to create a risk environment where hazardous drinking impedes adherence to HIV medications among men living with HIV, including prevalent social norms of drinking, drinking as a way of experiencing "reward" and connecting with others (e.g. in the context of transactional sex), stressful work conditions, a "live for today" outlook, and a cash-based economy with no traditional savings infrastructure leading to ease of daily expenditure on drinking and sex work. These social and environmental conditions result in high levels of alcohol misuse and HIV risk, poor HIV outcomes, and exacerbation of HIV-associated wellness comorbidities such as poor mental and subjective physical health and food insecurity.
The goal of this study is to learn if the intervention called Kisoboka works to help men in fishing communities reduce hazardous alcohol use, be better able to take the participants HIV medication as prescribed, and have undetectable HIV viral loads. The investigators will compare the Kisoboka intervention to a brief alcohol screening, adherence counseling, and referrals, and to components of the Kisoboka intervention.
Participants will attend intervention counseling sessions according to the study arm to which the participants are randomly assigned. The number of sessions ranges from 1 to 6 over 1 to 16 weeks and are individual only or both individual and group sessions.
Inclusion: living with HIV; residing in a fishing community (on most days/nights); AUDIT-C positive (≥4) indicating potential hazardous drinking; >6 months since initial antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation; not planning to move from the area within the next 6 months; have their own mobile phone and can be reached via phone; an indicator of potential suboptimal treatment as prevention (TasP) either:; (i) last HIV viral load test (within 6 months) was detectable (>20) or (ii) last viral load test between 6 and 13 months ago was detectable (>20) and reports missing ≥2 ART doses in the past 2 weeks or (iii) a lack of viral load test results for the prior 13 months in clinic records and reports missing ≥2 ART doses in the past 2 weeks.
Exclusion: currently receiving a majority of work payments via mobile money/digital payments; visibly intoxicated at enrollment (eligible to enroll when not intoxicated); does not speak Luganda or English; participated in the Kisoboka pilot RCT; unable to read basic Luganda or English.