Mobile Phone Text Messaging Referral

NCT01746758 | Unknown DMC

• 1 other identifier: 11.94RS
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 700
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The study hypothesis is that managed referral of patients at community level (from drug stores) increases uptake of reproductive health (RH) services at dispensary and health centre levels. The intervention is currently being implemented in 2 districts (Magu and Sengerema) in Mwanza Region on the northwest shore of Lake Victoria. It is nested within the IntHEC Community Randomised Trial which aims to evaluate the impact of a complex RH intervention on the uptake and integration of reproductive health services in 2 Regions in Tanzania (Mwanza and Iringa) and Niger (Say and Aguie) respectively. 18 wards per region were stratified according to geographical and economic criteria and randomly assigned to intervention or comparison wards. The SMS intervention is being implemented in 9 intervention wards in Mwanza Region only. 9 wards are followed for comparison.

Conditions

HIV; Sexually Transmitted Infections; Contraception; Pregnancy

Keywords

Reproductive health, mHealth, Cluster randomised trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Increase the number of patients receiving reproductive health services at dispensary and health centre level after referral from a drug store.

  This will be measured by comparing data of referred patients by text message in intervention wards with patients' data from comparison wards - comparing the number of referrals from drug stores in both arms.

  12 months

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Referred number of patients attending HIV, STI, pregnancy prevention (including numbers of condoms, VCT, and post-abortion care) and treatment

  12 months

• Referred number of patients attending other contraceptives (the pill, intra-uterine devices, injection, female condom and sterilisation where available)

  12 months

• Referred number of patients testing HIV positive (where there is a testing service)

  12 months

• Referred number of patients diagnosed with STIs (syndromic diagnosis)

  12 months

• Prevalence of HIV and STIs in the data from study areas

  12 months

Study Arms (2)

SMS text messaging referral

EXPERIMENTAL

The text messaging system has been designed to use codes of reproductive health conditions and their treatments. Text messages are sent by drug stores and received at the dispensaries, forwarded by a bespoke software called Snapshot, which captures data online from any computer anywhere by use of a login for confidentiality.

Behavioral: SMS text messaging referral

Comparison arm

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention will be implemented in intervention arm. Data on reproductive health conditions and treatments and data on referrals from drug stores in this arm will be obtained directly from ministry of health registers filled and filed at the dispensary and health centres, plus a tailor-made form which is filled by the dispensary and health centre clinicians whenever they receive a patient in the eligible categories.

Interventions

SMS text messaging referral BEHAVIORAL

The text messaging system has been designed to use codes of reproductive health conditions and their treatments. Text messages are sent by drug stores and received at the dispensaries, forwarded by a bespoke software called Snapshot, which captures data online from any computer anywhere by use of a login for confidentiality.

SMS text messaging referral

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 15 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Only patients attending services at the drug store. Only patients seeking reproductive health care services. Only resident in study wards.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients non-residence in study wards. Patients seeking non-reproductive health care services.
• The primary and secondary outcomes will be measured in people aged 15-19 (our definition of adolescent), but the intervention accepts all age-groups during implementation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine: lead
• National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania: collaborator
• Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

National Institute for Medical Research Tanzania

Mwanza, Tanzania

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Communicable Diseases; Infections; Genital Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• John N Dusabe, MSc BSc

  Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Angela IN Obasi, MSc PhD MRCP

  Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

John N Dusabe, MSc BSc

CONTACT

+44 151 705 3247; john.dusabe@liverpool.ac.uk

Kerry Millington, PhD BSc

CONTACT

+44 151 705 2583; kmilling@liverpool.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 7, 2012
• First Posted: December 11, 2012
• Study Start: August 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: January 1, 2014
• Study Completion: January 1, 2014
• Last Updated: December 11, 2012

Record last verified: 2012-05

Locations

TA (1)