NIH-Backed Study to Evaluate Mobile Clinics for Integrated HIV, SUD Treatment

The National Institutes of Health have announced the launch of a new clinical trial to determine whether delivering integrated services at mobile clinics can improve both HIV and substance use outcomes among individuals with opioid use disorder who inject drugs.

“Too often, lifesaving addiction treatment and HIV care are administered by a patchwork of health professionals under several different roofs, presenting major access challenges for people who use opioids and other drugs,” NIDA director Nora D. Volkow, MD, said in a news release. “By providing these services through a welcoming one-stop shop, and meeting people where they are, we hope to find a way to more effectively treat people for HIV and substance use disorders.”

About 1 in 10 new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. are attributed either entirely or in part to injection drug use, according to CDC data.

Researchers will look to enroll 860 OUD patients who inject drugs. The participants will be assigned to receive care either through a single mobile clinic or multiple community-based agencies. Over the course of 26 weeks, both study groups will receive access to trained peer navigators who help coordinate and facilitate care visits. After 26 and 52 weeks, investigators will evaluate:

• Use of medications for OUD
• Rates of viral suppression among participants with HIV
• Use of opioids and other substances based on self-reporting by participants and urine screenings
• New diagnoses of HIV, hepatitis C, COVID-19 and bacterial sexually transmitted infections

The study will also look to assess the cost effectiveness and logistical feasibility of providing care in mobile clinics vs. community-based agencies.

The study, known as INTEGRA, is being funded by NIDA and sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is being conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network at sites in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Results of the study are expected to be published in 2025.