Improving outcomes for children with malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Mozambique: A cluster randomised controlled trial of the inSCALE technology innovation

BACKGROUND

The majority of post-neonatal deaths in children under 5 are due to malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia (MDP). The WHO recommends integrated community case management (iCCM) of these conditions using community-based health workers (CHW). However iCCM programmes have suffered from poor implementation and mixed outcomes. We designed and evaluated a technology-based (mHealth) intervention package 'inSCALE' (Innovations At Scale For Community Access and Lasting Effects) to support iCCM programmes and increase appropriate treatment coverage for children with MDP.

METHODS

This superiority cluster randomised controlled trial allocated all 12 districts in Inhambane Province in Mozambique to receive iCCM only (control) or iCCM plus the inSCALE technology intervention. Population cross-sectional surveys were conducted at baseline and after 18 months of intervention implementation in approximately 500 eligible households in randomly selected communities in all districts including at least one child less than 60 months of age where the main caregiver was available to assess the impact of the intervention on the primary outcome, the coverage of appropriate treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in children 2-59months of age. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of sick children who were taken to the CHW for treatment, validated tool-based CHW motivation and performance scores, prevalence of cases of illness, and a range of secondary household and health worker level outcomes. All statistical models accounted for the clustered study design and variables used to constrain the randomisation. A meta-analysis of the estimated pooled impact of the technology intervention was conducted including results from a sister trial (inSCALE-Uganda).

FINDINGS

The study included 2740 eligible children in control arm districts and 2863 children in intervention districts. After 18 months of intervention implementation 68% (69/101) CHWs still had a working inSCALE smartphone and app and 45% (44/101) had uploaded at least one report to their supervising health facility in the last 4 weeks. Coverage of the appropriate treatment of cases of MDP increased by 26% in the intervention arm (adjusted RR 1.26 95% CI 1.12-1.42, p<0.001). The rate of care seeking to the iCCM-trained community health worker increased in the intervention arm (14.4% vs 15.9% in control and intervention arms respectively) but fell short of the significance threshold (adjusted RR 1.63, 95% CI 0.93-2.85, p = 0.085). The prevalence of cases of MDP was 53.5% (1467) and 43.7% (1251) in the control and intervention arms respectively (risk ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.78-0.87, p<0.001). CHW motivation and knowledge scores did not differ between intervention arms. Across two country trials, the estimated pooled effect of the inSCALE intervention on coverage of appropriate treatment for MDP was RR 1.15 (95% CI 1.08-1.24, p <0.001).

INTERPRETATION

The inSCALE intervention led to an improvement in appropriate treatment of common childhood illnesses when delivered at scale in Mozambique. The programme will be rolled out by the ministry of health to the entire national CHW and primary care network in 2022-2023. This study highlights the potential value of a technology intervention aimed at strengthening iCCM systems to address the largest causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

Improving community health worker treatment for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in Uganda through inSCALE community and mHealth innovations: A cluster randomised controlled trial

The inSCALE cluster randomised controlled trial in Uganda evaluated two interventions, mHealth and Village Health Clubs (VHCs) which aimed to improve Community Health Worker (CHW) treatment for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia within the national Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programme. The interventions were compared with standard care in a control arm. In a cluster randomised trial, 39 sub-counties in Midwest Uganda, covering 3167 CHWs, were randomly allocated to mHealth; VHC or usual care (control) arms. Household surveys captured parent-reported child illness, care seeking and treatment practices. Intention-to-treat analysis estimated the proportion of appropriately treated children with malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia according to WHO informed national guidelines. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01972321). Between April-June 2014, 7679 households were surveyed; 2806 children were found with malaria, diarrhoea, or pneumonia symptoms in the last one month. Appropriate treatment was 11% higher in the mHealth compared to the control arm (risk ratio [RR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.02, 1.21; p = 0.018). The largest effect was on appropriate treatment for diarrhoea (RR 1.39; 95% CI 0.90, 2.15; p = 0.134). The VHC intervention increased appropriate treatment by 9% (RR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01, 1.18; p = 0.059), again with largest effect on treatment of diarrhoea (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.04, 2.34, p = 0.030). CHWs provided the highest levels of appropriate treatment compared to other providers. However, improvements in appropriate treatment were observed at health facilities and pharmacies, with CHW appropriate treatment the same across the arms. The rate of CHW attrition in both intervention arms was less than half that of the control arm; adjusted risk difference mHealth arm -4.42% (95% CI -8.54, -0.29, p = 0.037) and VHC arm -4.75% (95% CI -8.74, -0.76, p = 0.021). Appropriate treatment by CHWs was encouragingly high across arms. The inSCALE mHealth and VHC interventions have the potential to reduce CHW attrition and improve the care quality for sick children, but not through improved CHW management as we had hypothesised. Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01972321).

Maximizing community participation and engagement: lessons learned over 2 decades of field trials in rural Ghana

BACKGROUND

Successful implementation of community-based research is dominantly influenced by participation and engagement from the local community without which community members will not want to participate in research and important knowledge and potential health benefits will be missed. Therefore, maximising community participation and engagement is key for the effective conduct of community-based research. In this paper, we present lessons learnt over two decades of conducting research in 7 rural districts in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana with an estimated population of around 600,000. The trials which were mainly in the area of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health were conducted by the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

METHODS

The four core strategies which were used were formative research methods, the formation of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) team to serve as the main link between the research team and the community, recruitment of field workers from the communities within which they lived, and close collaboration with national and regional stakeholders.

RESULTS

These measures allowed trust to be built between the community members and the research team and ensured that potential misconceptions which came up in the communities were promptly dealt with through the IEC team. The decision to place field workers in the communities from which they came and their knowledge of the local language created trust between the research team and the community. The close working relationship between the District health authorities and the Kintampo Health Research Centre supported the acceptance of the research in the communities as the District Health Authorities were respected and trusted.

CONCLUSION

The successes achieved during the past 2 decades of collaboration between LSHTM and KHRC in conducting community-based field trials were based on involving the community in research projects. Community participation and engagement helped not only to identify the pertinent issues, but also enabled the communities and research team to contribute towards efforts to address challenges.

Are performance indicators used for hospital quality management: a qualitative interview study amongst health professionals and quality managers in The Netherlands

BACKGROUND

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to share indicator-based performance information. These indicators can also serve as a means to promote quality improvement and boost hospital performance. Our aim was to explore hospitals' use of performance indicators for internal quality management activities.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative interview study among 72 health professionals and quality managers in 14 acute care hospitals in The Netherlands. Concentrating on orthopaedic and oncology departments, our goal was to gain insight into data collection and use of performance indicators for two conditions: knee and hip replacement surgery and breast cancer surgery. The semi-structured interviews were recorded and summarised. Based on the data, themes were synthesised and the analyses were executed systematically by two analysts independently. The findings were validated through comparison.

RESULTS

The hospitals we investigated collect data for performance indicators in different ways. Similarly, these hospitals have different ways of using such data to support their quality management, while some do not seem to use the data for this purpose at all. Factors like 'linking pin champions', pro-active quality managers and engaged medical specialists seem to make a difference. In addition, a comprehensive hospital data infrastructure with electronic patient records and robust data collection software appears to be a prerequisite to produce reliable external performance indicators for internal quality improvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospitals often fail to use performance indicators as a means to support internal quality management. Such data, then, are not used to its full potential. Hospitals are recommended to focus their human resource policy on 'linking pin champions', the engagement of professionals and a pro-active quality manager, and to invest in a comprehensive data infrastructure. Furthermore, the differences in data collection processes between Dutch hospitals make it difficult to draw comparisons between outcomes of performance indicators.

Introducing home based skin-to-skin care for low birth weight newborns: a pilot approach to education and counseling in Ghana

Skin-to-skin contact (STSC) for low birth weight newborns in community settings may greatly improve survival, especially where access to health facilities is limited. Community STSC has been implemented in large-scale trials in Asia and is recommended by WHO and UNICEF. In countries where the practice is entirely new, such as Ghana, STSC may need special educational approaches.

OBJECTIVE

The dual aims of this study were to understand the acceptance and barriers to STSC in an African community setting and to use in-depth formative research to contribute to the success of a behavior-based health intervention.

DESIGN

A rapid qualitative study with an intentionally small sample.

SETTING

Kintampo, Ghana, a predominately rural, agrarian area in the center of the country with diverse ethnic groups in a forest-savannah transition zone.

METHOD

Key informants were consulted through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to develop the pilot. Five mothers participated in pilot instruction (four refused), which included counseling and used a trials-of-improved-practices methodology; data from group discussion with traditional birth attendants were also included.

RESULTS

It was difficult to overcome barriers to the practice (post partum pain, fear of harming the umbilicus), and less intractable barriers (traditional carrying practices, fear of causing harm, lack of back support, time constraints, breast feeding issues) were reported.

CONCLUSION

Some study participants tried STSC but none did it continuously. As promotion of STSC could be vital for improving newborn survival in low resource settings, tackling perceived barriers may be an important way to increase acceptability of this practice.

Impact of free delivery care on health facility delivery and insurance coverage in Ghana's Brong Ahafo Region

BACKGROUND

Many sub-Saharan countries, including Ghana, have introduced policies to provide free medical care to pregnant women. The impact of these policies, particularly on access to health services among the poor, has not been evaluated using rigorous methods, and so the empirical basis for defending these policies is weak. In Ghana, a recent report also cast doubt on the current mechanism of delivering free care--the National Health Insurance Scheme. Longitudinal surveillance data from two randomized controlled trials conducted in the Brong Ahafo Region provided a unique opportunity to assess the impact of Ghana's policies.

METHODS

We used time-series methods to assess the impact of Ghana's 2005 policy on free delivery care and its 2008 policy on free national health insurance for pregnant women. We estimated their impacts on facility delivery and insurance coverage, and on socioeconomic differentials in these outcomes after controlling for temporal trends and seasonality.

RESULTS

Facility delivery has been increasing significantly over time. The 2005 and 2008 policies were associated with significant jumps in coverage of 2.3% (p = 0.015) and 7.5% (p<0.001), respectively after the policies were introduced. Health insurance coverage also jumped significantly (17.5%, p<0.001) after the 2008 policy. The increases in facility delivery and insurance were greatest among the poorest, leading to a decline in socioeconomic inequality in both outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Providing free care, particularly through free health insurance, has been effective in increasing facility delivery overall in the Brong Ahafo Region, and especially among the poor. This finding should be considered when evaluating the impact of the National Health Insurance Scheme and in supporting the continuation and expansion of free delivery care.

Effect of vitamin A supplementation in women of reproductive age on maternal survival in Ghana (ObaapaVitA): a cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled trial

BACKGROUND

A previous trial in Nepal showed that supplementation with vitamin A or its precursor (betacarotene) in women of reproductive age reduced pregnancy-related mortality by 44% (95% CI 16-63). We assessed the effect of vitamin A supplementation in women in Ghana.

METHODS

ObaapaVitA was a cluster-randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial undertaken in seven districts in Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana. The trial area was divided into 1086 small geographical clusters of compounds with fieldwork areas consisting of four contiguous clusters. All women of reproductive age (15-45 years) who gave informed consent and who planned to remain in the area for at least 3 months were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned by cluster of residence to receive a vitamin A supplement (25 000 IU retinol equivalents) or placebo capsule orally once every week. Randomisation was blocked and based on an independent, computer-generated list of numbers, with two clusters in each fieldwork area allocated to vitamin A supplementation and two to placebo. Capsules were distributed during home visits undertaken every 4 weeks, when data were gathered on pregnancies, births, and deaths. Primary outcomes were pregnancy-related mortality and all-cause female mortality. Cause of death was established by verbal post mortems. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT) with random-effects regression to account for the cluster-randomised design. Adverse events were synonymous with the trial outcomes. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00211341.

FINDINGS

544 clusters (104 484 women) were randomly assigned to vitamin A supplementation and 542 clusters (103 297 women) were assigned to placebo. The main reason for participant drop out was migration out of the study area. In the ITT analysis, there were 39 601 pregnancies and 138 pregnancy-related deaths in the vitamin A supplementation group (348 deaths per 100 000 pregnancies) compared with 39 234 pregnancies and 148 pregnancy-related deaths in the placebo group (377 per 100 000 pregnancies); adjusted odds ratio 0.92, 95% CI 0.73-1.17; p=0.51. 1326 women died in 292 560 woman-years in the vitamin A supplementation group (453 deaths per 100 000 years) compared with 1298 deaths in 289 310 woman-years in the placebo group (449 per 100 000 years); adjusted rate ratio 1.01, 0.93-1.09; p=0.85.

INTERPRETATION

The body of evidence, although limited, does not support inclusion of vitamin A supplementation for women in either safe motherhood or child survival strategies.

FUNDING

UK Department for International Development, and USAID.