Impact Evaluation of Super Abbu: A Speech Based MNCH Platform in Pakistan

NCT04008199 | Terminated

• 1 other identifier: 1255578
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 276
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators have developed, piloted, and propose to expand and to experimentally evaluate a speech-based service that connects expectant fathers to doctors and to each other over a simple phone call. This service, dubbed Super Abbu (Super Dad in English), addresses the challenges faced by existing efforts in several new and important ways:

• The service targets fathers. Currently, the entire public health infrastructure in Punjab is geared towards providing information to women.
• It supplements LHWs by providing information between LHW visits.
• It does so in a manner appropriate for those who are illiterate and do not have smartphones.
• It does not require synchronous phone calls. Expectant fathers can leave questions to be answered. And they can access past questions and answers asked by themselves and other users.
• Through experience developing, publicizing, and driving adoption of speech-based services, the investigators believe they can overcome the slow adoption rate faced by the Punjab Health Line. Principal investigator Raza previously developed and launched Baang in Punjab, an entertainment speech-based social service, similar to Reddit, which accumulated 42,500 calls by 1,550 users within 71 days of its launch. These users listened to 393,448 speech posts.

Conditions

Maternal and Child Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• How many times did she receive antenatal care during this pregnancy?

  Language taken from Pakistan DHS.

  From childbirth through study completion, an average of 3 months

• Where did you give birth to [NAME]?

  Language taken from Pakistan DHS; possible choices: \[OWN HOME, OTHER HOME, GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL, GOVERNMENT CLINIC, OTHER GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE HOSPITAL, PRIVATE CLINIC, OTHER PRIVATE\]

  From childbirth through study completion, an average of 3 months

• When [NAME] was born, was [NAME] very large, larger than average, average, smaller than average, or very small?

  Language taken from the Pakistan DHS.

  From childbirth through study completion, an average of 3 months

• For how much time in total do you plan to breastfeed [NAME] for?

  \[DAYS/WEEKS/MONTHS/YEARS\]

  From childbirth through study completion, an average of 3 months

Study Arms (2)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control group will not receive any intervention. Households in this group will only be surveyed.

Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Treatment group will receive an invitation to join Super Abbu in addition to identical surveys to those in the control group.

Other: Super Abbu

Interventions

Super Abbu OTHER

The investigators have developed, piloted, and propose to expand and to experimentally evaluate a speech-based service that connects expectant fathers to doctors and to each other over a simple phone call. This service is dubbed Super Abbu (Super Dad in English).

Treatment

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may not qualify if:

• Preliminary study subjects The researchers will conduct a preliminary study with approximately 100 subjects prior to beginning the primary study, to pilot the service and to test different versions of Super Abbu. These participants will be selected following the same procedure as with the primary study subjects, with one exception---they will all be invited to join Super Abbu. They will also be in a geographically distinct location from the primary study participants.
• Focus group subjects The research team will also conduct focus groups prior to the primary study. Separate focus groups will be conducted with: gynecologists, LHWs, pregnant mothers, expectant fathers, fathers that were invited to be preliminary study subjects, fathers that were invited to be primary study subjects who were also invited to Super Abbu, and fathers that were invited to be primary study subjects who were not invited to Super Abbu. In all cases, the researchers will only include adults (18 years or older) who give consent. Selection criteria will be that subjects must match the group for which each given focus group is being conducted, with no additional criteria. Groups of 1-10, identified ad-hoc based on referrals, will be invited in-person to join a focus group at a central location. The researchers expect to conduct two focus groups per group, except four for preliminary study subjects, for a total of 16 focus groups and up to 160 participants. Note while the researchers expect discussion to differ based on the background and perspectives of those being focus grouped they plan to ask very similar questions of the group and, as such, only have one consent form for all focus group participants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Davis: lead
• University of Michigan: collaborator
• Lahore University of Management Sciences: collaborator
• University of California, Riverside: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Lahore University of Management Sciences

Lahore, Lahore/Punjab, Pakistan

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: There is no placebo or masking for logistical reasons.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The researchers are conducting a field experiment of the Super Abbu platform. Some households will be invited to participate and others will not, at random.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 28, 2019
• First Posted: July 5, 2019
• Study Start: June 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: July 31, 2023
• Study Completion: July 31, 2023
• Last Updated: November 30, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

PA (1)