Ai Shi Zi is a five-year NIMH-funded prevention and treatment study, the goal of which is to teach physicians how to enhance prevention and care for HIV and STIs. Because HIV and STIs are closely linked, prevention requires both state-of-the-art treatment and changes in sexual behavior. This study aims to teach physicians how to focus on both of these elements.
A total of 60 counties in China’s Anhui Province will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) primary and secondary training, in which county-level physicians are trained and, in turn, train township-level physicians; and 2) delayed-intervention control, in which physicians receive training only at the end of the 12-month assessment. Our primary endpoint is a hypothesized reduction in the one-year incidence of Chlamydia and gonorrhea among patients of trained county- and township-level physicians relative to delayed-intervention controls. Physicians and patients at the county- and township-levels will also be assessed using questionnaires at baseline and at 6 and 12 months following baseline.
Local significance (How has this project impacted the immediate population?):
This project provides training to county- and township-level physicians in Anhui Province, China and, hopefully, improved care and treatment to their patients at risk for STIs, including HIV.
International significance (How has this project impacted the global community?):
This study may provide a useful model for training of physicians in a variety of developing country settings who care for patients at risk for STIs, including HIV.