Health Technology/clinical-trials

SmartSteps Phase III Trial: Digital Pill Technology and Behavioural Phenotyping to Decode PrEP Adherence in MSM with Substance Use Disorder

247 Health News Editorial

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22 July 2026

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4 min read

·clinical-trials

The SmartSteps trial deploys ingestible sensor technology and smartphone-based behavioural phenotyping to map the real-world context of PrEP non-adherence in MSM with substance use disorder. By correlating digital pill ingestion data with passive smartphone signals, the study aims to identify the behavioural signatures that precede missed doses — laying the groundwork for precision-targeted, just-in-time adherence support tools.

Originally reported by ClinicalTrials.gov

References

  1. 1.Brigham and Women's Hospital. (2022). SmartSteps: A context-aware, pre-exposure prophylaxis adherence intervention for individuals with substance use disorder (NCT05378399). ClinicalTrials.gov. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05378399
  2. 2.Castillo-Mancilla, J. R., Zheng, J. H., Rower, J. E., Meditz, A., Gardner, E. M., Predhomme, J., & Anderson, P. L. (2013). Tenofovir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir diphosphate in dried blood spots for determining recent and cumulative drug exposure. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 29(2), 384–390. https://doi.org/10.1089/aid.2012.0089
  3. 3.Nahum-Shani, I., Smith, S. N., Spring, B. J., Collins, L. M., Witkiewitz, K., Tewari, A., & Murphy, S. A. (2018). Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) in mobile health: Key components and design principles for ongoing health behavior support. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(6), 446–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-016-9830-8
  4. 4.Riddell, J., Amico, K. R., & Mayer, K. H. (2018). HIV preexposure prophylaxis: A review. JAMA, 319(12), 1261–1268. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.1917
  5. 5.Torous, J., Kiang, M. V., Lorme, J., & Onnela, J. P. (2016). New tools for new research in psychiatry: A scalable and customizable platform to empower data driven smartphone research. JMIR Mental Health, 3(2), e16. https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.5165
  6. 6.Velloza, J., Khoza, N., Scorgie, F., Chitukuta, M., Mutero, P., Mutanha, N., & Hendrix, C. W. (2020). The influence of HIV-related stigma on PrEP disclosure and adherence among adolescent girls and young women in HPTN 082: A qualitative study. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 23(3), e25463. https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25463
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247 Health News Editorial

247 Health News is a medical intelligence platform delivering evidence-based research appraisals, clinical trial monitoring, and health technology news for healthcare professionals.

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