NCT02468310: Accelerate

Evaluating the Effects of SMS Text Messaging Support System Among Frontline Health Workers in Ghana

Completed NA Last updated 21 August 2017

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Maternal and neonatal emergency protocols in Maternal Death in 65,831 participants. Completed in 9 April 2017.

Timeline

10 August 2015

Primary endpoint
9 February 2017

9 April 2017

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Hannah Brown Amoakoh
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	health services research
Enrollment	65,831
Start date	10 August 2015
Primary completion	9 February 2017
Estimated completion	9 April 2017
Sites	1 location across Ghana

Drugs / interventions tested

• Maternal and neonatal emergency protocols

Conditions studied

• Maternal Death — all drugs for Maternal Death →
• Neonatal Death — all drugs for Neonatal Death →
• Postpartum Haemorrhage — all drugs for Postpartum Haemorrhage →
• Pre-eclampsia — all drugs for Pre-eclampsia →

Sponsor

Hannah Brown Amoakoh

Who can join

Eligibility, any sex, with Maternal Death or Neonatal Death. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Introduction Maternal and neonatal mortality continue to be to be prominent public health issues in sub Saharan Africa including Ghana, with slow progress made towards attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 \& 5. Studies have identified poor quality of maternal and child healthcare as a major challenge to the prevention of neonatal and maternal deaths. Effective interventions are required to make significant inroads in these areas.

Objective To evaluate the effect of a SMS text messaging intervention to support clinical decision making by frontline health care professionals on neonatal and maternal mortality.

Methods We propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial in the Eastern region of Ghana, involving 8 intervention and 8 control districts. The intervention consists of text messaging of standard protocols for maternal and neonatal care to front line health care providers in the region. A total of 17,040 pregnant women who are receiving care (including antenatal, delivery and post-natal) at any of the hospitals in the selected districts in the region will be monitored through monthly aggregate data on outcome measures such as neonatal and maternal deaths from eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, puerperal sepsis, birth asphyxia, low birth weight and neonatal sepsis. Cord sepsis will also be included as neonatal sepsis for this study. Also, a quality of care assessment in four sampled districts to measure adherence to the safe motherhood protocol will be conducted. Stata software package.55 and MLwiN software version 2.2456 will be employed in data analysis. Descriptive analysis will be carried out to explore baseline characteristics of study groups while logistic regression will be applied to evaluate the effect of the intervention. A two-tailed statistical significant level of 0.05 will be used.

Expected outcome We hypothesize that the intervention will improve both maternal and neonatal service delivery and health outcomes in the intervention areas.

Publications & conference data

3 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. The effect of an mHealth clinical decision-making support system on neonatal mortality in a low resource setting: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.
   Amoakoh HB, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Agyepong IA, Zuithoff NPA, et al · · 2019 · cited 19× · PMID 31388661 · DOI 10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.05.010
2. The effect of a clinical decision-making mHealth support system on maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in Ghana: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.
   Amoakoh HB, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Amoakoh-Coleman M, Agyepong IA, et al · · 2017 · cited 16× · PMID 28372580 · DOI 10.1186/s13063-017-1897-4
3. Can an mhealth clinical decision-making support system improve adherence to neonatal healthcare protocols in a low-resource setting?
   Amoakoh HB, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Agyepong IA, Amoakoh-Coleman M, et al · · 2020 · cited 7× · PMID 33243172 · DOI 10.1186/s12887-020-02378-1