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Comparative Effectiveness/Implementation of TB Case Finding in Rural South Africa

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Tuberculosis
Registration Number
NCT02808507
Lead Sponsor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare three strategies for finding TB cases in a rural Sub-Saharan African setting: 1) Screening all attendees of primary care clinics for TB; 2) Conducting household contact investigations of newly diagnosed TB cases; 3) Providing incentives to newly diagnosed TB cases and their contacts to promote contact screening for TB. For each intervention, investigators will measure comparative effectiveness in terms of cases identified as well as the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of implementation.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
4852
Inclusion Criteria

Facility-based screening arm

  • Age 0-99 years
  • Informed consent provided (or assent plus parent/guardian consent)
  • Attending any of the study 28 study clinics in the facility-based screening arm

Contact tracing arm- Index Case

  • Age 0-99 years
  • Informed consent provided (or assent plus parent/guardian consent)
  • Newly diagnosed (last 2 months) with TB at any of the 28 study clinics in the contact tracing arm

Contact tracing arm- Household Contact

  • Age 0-99 years
  • Informed consent provided (or assent plus parent/guardian consent)
  • Living in the same household as an enrolled Index case (see above)

Contact tracing arm- Non-household Close Contact

  • Age 0-99 years
  • Informed consent provided (or assent plus parent/guardian consent)
  • Referred to the study as a close contact of an enrolled Index case (see above)

Exclusion Criteria (all arms):

  • Unable to provide informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Comparative Treatment Initiation Ratio in the Incentive-based Versus Household-based Contact Investigation Arms36 months

The primary outcome of the study was the comparative number of people with incident TB diagnosed and started on treatment at study clinics in the two contact tracing arms, excluding the six-month washout period.

Treatment Initiation Ratio in Facility Versus Contact Investigation Clinics18 months

The primary analysis was based on the facility- level rate ratio, and we first calculated an unadjusted ratio of the treatment initiation rates between the two arms and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). We then adjusted for any residual confounding by district stratification and the historical annual number of people started on TB following a two-stage approach. The first step of this approach fits a Poisson regression to the facility-level counts and the district and historical volume covariates irrespective of study arm. The residuals ratios, calculated as the ratio of the observed over the expected counts, are then used in the second stage to estimate the between-arm rate ratio and the corresponding 95% CI.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Comparative Number of Secondary TB Cases Identified in Incentive-based Versus Household-based Contact Tracing36 months

The pre-specified secondary study outcome was the number of Xpert-based TB diagnoses made among enrolled contacts ("secondary cases") by arm.

Total Cost of Household Contact Investigation Strategies36 months

This measure is the total cost of household contact investigation in both the household-based and incentive-based arms in 2018 United States dollar (USD) collected from the societal perspective (including both health systems and patient-level costs). As these are actual measured (not estimated) costs, no 95% confidence interval is reported.

Estimated Costs Per Contact Person Screened in the Household-based and Incentive-based Contact Investigation Arms36 months

These are estimated costs in 2018 USD for the cost per contact person screened in each arm, collected from the societal perspective including health system and patient-level costs.

Cost Per Secondary Case of TB Identified Among Contacts, Per Arm36 months

Cost were measured in 2018 US dollars from the societal perspective, including both health systems and patient level costs. Total costs per arm were divided by the number of secondary TB cases identified among contacts in that arm.

Incremental Cost-effectiveness Ratio36 months

(Total costs of incentive-based contact investigation-total costs of household-based contact investigation)/(effectiveness of incentive-based contact investigation-effectiveness of household-based contact investigation)

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Vhembe health subdistrict

🇿🇦

Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, South Africa

Waterberg health subdistrict

🇿🇦

Mokopane, Limpopo, South Africa

Vhembe health subdistrict
🇿🇦Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, South Africa

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