Purpose

The goal of this open-label, randomized trial is to assess the efficacy of doxycycline prophylaxis in reducing incidences of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescent and young adult females while also evaluating acceptability and antimicrobial resistance in order to inform public health policy.

Conditions

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 13 Years and 29 Years
Eligible Sex
Female
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 13-29 years, inclusive; - Self-reports GC, CT, and/or early syphilis diagnosis in the 12 months prior to screening; - Self-reports condomless (oral, vaginal, and/or anal) intercourse at least once in the 30 days prior to screening - Is at least 45 kilograms (99.2 pounds) in weight - Fluent in English (able to read, speak, and understand English); - Willing to undergo all required study procedures; and - Willing to provide written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Is male; - Is pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant in the next 12 months; - Documented history of tetracycline allergy or self-reports an allergy to tetracyclines; - Current or anticipated use of a medication (e.g., barbiturates, phenytoin, lithium, carbamazepine, systemic retinoids, warfarin) with a contraindicated interaction to doxycycline ; - Current or planned use of doxycycline for a prolonged period (> 2 weeks) in the 30 days prior to enrollment, including current prescription for doxycycline for STI prophylaxis; - Prolonged antibiotic use (> 2 weeks) within the last 30 days prior to enrollment; - Co-enrollment in any other concurrent interventional research or studies that may interfere with this study, such as an STI prevention trial, unless approved by Protocol Team in writing; - Does not have consistent access (or anticipated weekly access for 52 weeks of survey completion) to smartphone that can access the HMP app; or - Any other medical condition, medical/behavioral intervention, or other conditions that, in the opinion of the clinical site Project Lead (PL)/Investigator of Record (IoR) or designee, could interfere with adherence to study procedures or compromise interpretation of study results.

Study Design

Phase
Phase 4
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Participants will be randomized 1:1:1 to (1) on-demand doxyPEP (doxycycline 200 mg as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex), (2) weekly doxycycline (doxycycline 200 mg weekly regardless of sexual activity), or (3) SOC (quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling). Participants will complete quarterly study visits over the course of 1 year during which they will receive STI testing (GC, CT, and syphilis), complete surveys, undergo safety monitoring, provide specimens for objective markers of doxycycline adherence and other laboratory assessments, and provide specimens (vaginal and rectal swabs [participant self-collected or staff-collected if the participant prefers]) for future testing, such as microbiome analysis.
Primary Purpose
Prevention
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
On-demand doxyPEP
Participants will take by mouth doxycycline 200 mg as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex in addition to standard of care STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling.
  • Drug: Doxycycline hyclate delayed released 200 mg
    200 mg of doxycycline taken by mouth as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex along with STI screening and sexual health counseling
Experimental
Weekly doxycycline
Participants will take by mouth doxycycline 200 mg weekly regardless of sexual activity in addition to standard of care STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling.
  • Drug: Doxycycline hyclate delayed released 200 mg weekly
    200 mg of doxycycline taken by mouth weekly regardless of sexual activity along with STI screening and sexual health counseling
Other
Quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling
Participants will be followed per standard of care with quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling.
  • Other: Per standard of care with quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling
    Quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling

Recruiting Locations

Children's National and nearby locations

Children's National Medical Center
Washington D.C., District of Columbia 20010
Contact:
Justin Unternaher
202-476-1030
junternahe@childrensnational.org

More Details

NCT ID
NCT06738407
Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Westat

Study Contact

Nancy Liu
718-980-3937
NancyLiu@westat.com

Detailed Description

Participants will be randomized to receive on-demand doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP), weekly doxycycline, or standard of care (SOC) and will be followed quarterly to assess the impact of doxycycline use on the quarterly incidence of STIs (gonorrhea [GC], chlamydia [CT], and early syphilis), and within the doxycycline arms adherence and acceptability of weekly versus on-demand dosing. Approximately 760 females will be randomized 1:1:1 to (1) on-demand doxyPEP (doxycycline 200 mg as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex), (2) weekly doxycycline (doxycycline 200 mg weekly regardless of sexual activity), or (3) SOC (quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling). Participants will complete quarterly study visits over the course of 1 year during which they will receive STI testing (GC, CT, and syphilis), complete surveys, undergo safety monitoring, provide specimens for objective markers of doxycycline adherence and other laboratory assessments, and provide specimens (vaginal and rectal swabs [participant self-collected or staff-collected if the participant prefers]) for future testing, such as microbiome analysis. Resistance testing will be conducted on Staphylococcus (S.) aureus and Neisseria (N.) gonorrhoeae isolates to evaluate for doxycycline and tetracycline resistance, respectively. Participants will also complete weekly assessments of sexual activity and doxycycline adherence via the HealthMpowerment (HMP) application (app).

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.