ThiPhiSA new pathways to TB prevention from community screening a household randomized controlled trial in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading cause of infectious disease deaths, particularly among people living with HIV (PWH). Despite being preventable, TB preventive therapy (TPT) uptake is low in high-burden regions like South Africa, where new guidelines have expanded TPT eligibility and introduced shorter, more effective regimens like 3 months of weekly rifapentine and isoniazid (3HP). As differentiated service delivery models for HIV care have proven effective, there is increasing recognition that decentralizing TPT delivery may improve coverage and completion. This study explores whether a community-based TPT delivery strategy can enhance uptake and completion of TPT compared with traditional clinic-based services. We will conduct a household-randomized, non-blinded, controlled trial. Persons eligible for TPT will be recruited from the TB TRIAGE+Trial study, a community-based household TB screening study. Households containing at least one person eligible for TPT will be randomized 1:1 to either community-based TPT or standard-of-care clinic referral for TPT. At enrolment, all participants will be provided with a 2-week supply of TPT in the community. Participants randomized to the community arm will receive the entire course of TPT in a single dispense (12 weeks of 3HP or 6 months of isoniazid, if 3HP is contraindicated). Clinic-arm participants will be referred to their local clinic for the remainder of their course of TPT and will collect TPT refills on the clinic-determined schedule. Our primary outcome is the proportion of participants who complete a course of TPT. Secondary outcomes include overall adherence to TPT, predictors of adherence with TPT, participant satisfaction with the assigned TPT delivery method and adverse events.