Can a smartphone app boost HIV prevention in drug users?
NCT ID NCT06068283
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a mobile app called LOTUS designed to help people who use drugs engage with HIV prevention services like testing and PrEP. The app provides tips, reminders, peer support, and a way to ask healthcare professionals questions. The trial will enroll 40 participants to see if the app is feasible, acceptable, and shows early signs of improving prevention service use.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- LOTUS mobile app (behavioral intervention)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a scalable way to improve HIV prevention among people who use drugs.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small early trial (40 people) with no control group, so results may not be generalizable. The app may not be engaging enough to change behavior.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Jul 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * 18 years of age or older * Report weekly or daily use of opioids and/or stimulants in the past 6 months * Meet current CDC eligibility criteria for PrEP * Report low levels of HIV prevention service engagement in the past 6 months * Not currently, or planning on becoming, pregnant during the study * Owns a smartphone with internet web-browsing capabilities Exclusion Criteria: * 17 years of age or younger * Does not report weekly or daily use of opioids and/or stimulants in the past 6 months * Does not meet current CDC eligibility criteria for PrEP * Report high levels of HIV prevention service engagement in the past 6 months * Currently, or planning on becoming, pregnant during the study * Does not own a smartphone with internet web-browsing capabilities
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of California San Diego
La Jolla, California, 92093, United States
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