Improved Access to Quality Care and Healthcare Use

NCT06275867 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: SOPRIMA//T023635
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,500
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is an individual-level randomised controlled trial which looks at the effect of providing free access to higher quality providers in urban South Africa. The study will recruit about 1,500 individuals with a child aged 5 or under. They will be randomly allocate to a control group (CONTROL) with the default free access to government facilities or one of the two treatment groups where they will have free access to private providers located either relatively close (CONVENIENT) by or relatively far (INCONVENIENT). The primary outcomes be overuse and underuse of healthcare services for children under 5

Conditions

Health Care Utilization; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health, Subjective

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Underuse

  number of days of illness where care-seeking is recommended by guidelines but not sought by the child's parent or guardian

  12 weeks

• Overuse

  proportion of primary health care visits that are considered unnecessary

  12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Illness duration

  12 weeks

• Out-of-pocket expenditures

  12 weeks

• Health knowledge

  Endline survey (i.e. 12 weeks approximately after the start of the intervention)

Study Arms (3)

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

In this group, participants will have free access to government facilities (usual care)

Convenient group

EXPERIMENTAL

In this group, for the duration of the study, participants will be given free access to a small number of private providers located relatively close by (less than 30 minutes).

Other: Free high-quality care; Other: Close distance

Inconvenient group

EXPERIMENTAL

In this group, for the duration of the study, participants will be given free access to a small number of private providers located relatively far (about one hour).

Other: Free high-quality care; Other: Far distance

Interventions

Free high-quality care OTHER

Participants are able to take their child to receive free consultations and treatment in a network of contracted private healthcare providers.

Convenient group; Inconvenient group

Close distance OTHER

The network of contracted providers is located close to where participants live.

Convenient group

Far distance OTHER

The network of contracted providers is located far to where participants live.

Inconvenient group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 2 Months - 6 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• parent has a child aged under 6 years old and over 2 months old

You may not qualify if:

• is planning to move out of the area in the next 3 months
• has private medical aid

Sponsors & Collaborators

• London School of Economics and Political Science: lead
• University of Witwatersrand, South Africa: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

HDSS Soweto clusters

Soweto, Gauteng, South Africa

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior

Study Officials

• Mylene Lagarde, PhD

  London School of Economics and Political Science

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2024
• First Posted: February 23, 2024
• Study Start: January 20, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 10, 2024
• Study Completion: August 30, 2024
• Last Updated: October 15, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-02

Locations

ZA (1)