Community Interventions for Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Ghana

NCT07284914 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY00026602102725
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 285
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This research project aims to test the effect of two interventions targeted to community pharmacies in the Greater Accra region, Ghana, on antibiotics dispensing rates. The general goal is to inform the design of future policies to address the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Conditions

Upper Resp Tract Infection

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Non-prescription antibiotics dispensing rate

  Whether the pharmacy dispenses antibiotics without prescription in scenarios not requiring them

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Watch or reserve antibiotics

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

• Out-of-pocket costs to patients

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

• Referral to a physician

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

• History taking

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

• Interaction time

  From baseline (1st SP visit) to the final SP visit (visit 5), lasting approximately 5 months.

Study Arms (3)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention

Individualized Feedback

EXPERIMENTAL

Pharmacies receive customized feedback on their antibiotics dispensing behavior.

Behavioral: Individualized Feedback

Legal Reminder

EXPERIMENTAL

Pharmacies receive letter from the authorities in Ghana emphasizing that providing antibiotics without a physician prescription is against the law.

Behavioral: Legal Reminder

Interventions

Legal Reminder BEHAVIORAL

We provide a letter from the authorities in Ghana emphasizing that providing antibiotics without a physician prescription is against the law.

Legal Reminder

Individualized Feedback BEHAVIORAL

We use information from the baseline visits (e.g., on whether they give antibiotics without a prescription and the time they spend with patients) to provide customized feedback to the pharmacies.

Individualized Feedback

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Operating within the Greater Accra region of Ghana
• Registered with Ghana Pharmacy Council
• "Stand-alone", i.e., not affiliated or next to a hospital

You may not qualify if:

• Operating only outside the Greater Accra region of Ghana
• Not registered with Ghana Pharmacy Council
• Hospital pharmacy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Ghana: collaborator
• Penn State University: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Ghana, Regional Institute for Population Studies

Legon, Ghana

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Respiratory Tract Infections

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Central Study Contacts

Yubraj Acharya, Ph.D.

CONTACT

814-865-6898; yua36@psu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: Community pharmacies will be randomized into 3 arms (control, Individualized Feedback, and Legal Reminder). Pharmacies in each arm will be visited by standardized patients under 4 scenarios (low demand-young patient; low demand-old patient, normal demand-young patient, normal demand-old patient).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 3, 2025
• First Posted: December 16, 2025
• Study Start: April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GH (1)