There are about 246 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Ghana. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
This is study among children attending child welfare clinics in Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The investigators want to find out if moderately malnourished children regulate the food energy intake similarly to healthy children, using an established method to assess energy compensation.
The purpose of this implementation science study is to generate evidence that informs the successful uptake and adoption of the Ellavi UBT within Ghana's PPH management programs. The investigators aim to improve the likelihood that the Ellavi UBT will be integrated into the health care system by obtaining critical feedback from stakeholders and health care providers on the barriers and facilitators towards its successful adoption and roll out. The research will be done in three purposively selected facilities near Accra Ghana: Tema General Hospital, Ridge Hospital, and Kasoa Polyclinic. This study uses a nonexperimental design to collect data on implementation (e.g. # staff trained, usability, user confidence, acceptability, feasibility). The study team will train all obstetric healthcare staff (i.e. obstetricians, midwives, medical officers, clinical officers) involved in PPH management at the 3 participating healthcare facilities on the Ellavi UBT. The investigators will gather feedback from the obstetric healthcare workers (post-training and post-PPH) to understand the barriers to and facilitators of use in order to evaluate acceptability and feasibility among facilities providing different levels of care (level 4, level 5 (county), level 6 (tertiary)). This process will help to generate training and facility level recommendations for improved uptake and integration into the local maternal care package. Case report forms and semi-quantitative surveys will be completed by obstetrical care providers to evaluate the primary outcomes of acceptability and feasibility by measuring: context of use, accuracy of use, perceptions of the device, user confidence, acceptability, usability, facilitators of use, barriers to use, use-patterns, and insights into training effectiveness. The secondary outcomes will include financial data to determine the cost of introducing the Ellavi UBT into the Kenyan PPH management protocols and the health system. The study will not involve the storage of biological samples. There is not a direct benefit of the study to the individual participants. All study participants will sign consent forms.
This study aims to evaluate the acceptability of bouillon cubes fortified with six micronutrients for which deficiency is common among women and children in Ghana and to assess the feasibility and reliability of data collection methods to be used in a planned, more detailed study to evaluate the effect of multiple micronutrient (MN)-fortified bouillon cube on biomarkers of nutrient status, health and development of women and children.
This pilot study has 2 components: 1) a cross-sectional assessment designed to estimate the prevalence of anaemia leading to donor deferral, the prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) among first-time donors, and 2) a longitudinal 2-arm parallel groups trial among first- time voluntary donors that compares haemoglobin levels at 4 months among those with ID or IDA who receive iron supplementation to those without ID or IDA who do not receive iron supplementation. A structured questionnaire will be used to extract demographic characteristics. Participants will be followed for a total of 6 months with study visits at 2, 4 and 6 months after the baseline assessments. Blood draws for full blood count (FBC), peripheral film comment, malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and ferritin assessment will occur at baseline and all follow-up visits. In addition, we will use a qualitative approach to identify barriers and facilitators of blood donation and the use of dietary and iron supplementation strategies to address iron deficiency and/or anaemia. This will involve conducting focus group discussions during the last month of the intervention and key informant interviews. Expected Outcomes The expected outcomes of the study have been grouped into two, primary and secondary. Primary Outcome will be haemoglobin level after 4 months. Secondary Outcomes are A. Change in haemoglobin levels B. Diagnosis of ID or IDA at 4 months C. Serum ferritin concentration after 4 months of intervention D. Acceptability of iron supplementation among participants and stakeholders E. Incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events F. Incidence of suspected malaria or bacterial infections G. Incidence of ID and IDA H. Successful return (non-deferred) to the blood donor pool after intervention within 6 months of enrolment I. Key barriers and facilitators of intervention implementation.
DESIGN This pilot study utilizes a mixed-methods approach to develop a novel docu- drama communication strategy, design WhatsApp intervention, evaluate the feasibility of a larger pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the two communication strategies and assess acceptability of the communication strategies aimed to increase blood donation among first-time blood donors within the catchment areas of the Southern Zonal Blood Centre (SZBC) in Ghana. In sequence, this pilot study and larger RCT are grounded in the PRECEDE-PROCEED implementation science framework. The pilot study has four components: 1) a qualitative component will be used to design a docu-drama, 2) key informant interviews to guide intervention development, 3) a simultaneous randomized pilot trial will evaluate the feasibility of the larger trial design of communication interventions using WhatsApp compared to control, and 4) a final mixed- methods (quantitative survey and focus groups) assessment of participant views of acceptability, effectiveness, feasibility and cultural appropriateness of the two proposed communication interventions. OBJECTIVES The three objectives of this pilot study are the careful design of a novel docu- drama communication intervention and WhatsApp intervention, evaluation of the feasibility of a larger RCT of communication strategies, and assessment of participant views of the two proposed communication interventions and control among first time blood donors within the catchment areas of the SZBC. For the purposes of registration for clinicaltrials.gov only the randomized pilot trial communication interventions using WhatsApp compared to control is reported. The planned sample size for the pilot RCT is n=128 first-time blood donors. The study population for the pilot RCT is first-time voluntary non-remunerated blood donors (VNRBD) and family/replacement blood donors (FRD) from the SZBC catchment area. REGIMEN WhatsApp: Participants assigned to the WhatsApp group will receive weekly messages developed by communication specialists aimed to motivate blood donation, be encouraged to discuss their blood donation experiences, and share their own motivations for donating blood in a moderated, closed group over a six-month duration. The moderator will provide guidelines on acceptable use of WhatsApp in the group, including images they can or cannot share. Participants will also receive standard NBSG communications for first-time donors. Control: Participants in this group will receive the standard NBSG communications for first-time donors: 1) a thank you phone call and 2) and a reminder phone call two-weeks prior to the second blood donation eligibility. The second blood donation eligibility is four months after the first donation.
We aim to study the effect of a structured diabetes education program (DESMOND) on diabetes outcomes in a ghanaian population over 3 months
This is a cluster randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of the WHO QR online training compared with a placebo intervention in improving the knowledge about human rights, the attitudes towards people with psychosocial disabilities, and the practices related to substitute-decision making and coercion among mental health professionals. Given the impact human rights violations have on the health of persons with psychosocial disabilities, an effort is needed to carry out methodologically strong research in this area. The study proposed will provide robust evidence to support further investment in interventions such as the WHO QualityRights training and make steps forward promoting the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities.
This pilot aims to generate data that are critical for informing the design of a planned, more detailed study to evaluate the effect of multiple micronutrient (MN)-fortified bouillon cube on biomarkers of nutrient status of women and children. Data collection includes measures of nutritional status and dietary intake among women and children and their households in communities in northern Ghana.
Hypertension among children and adolescents is on the rise in both developed and developing countries. Childhood and adolescent obesity, a key factor for hypertension in this population results largely from unhealthy dietary and physical inactivity behaviours. Adequate knowledge, a component for behavior change, has been found to be crucial to improving one's confidence to tackle these improper behaviours. Despite this, there are gaps in knowledge on hypertension and its risks factors in Ghanaian adolescents. Using an educational intervention (health talk), the study therefore sought to improve knowledge on preventive measures of hypertension among senior high school students in Ghana.
Brief Summary: Improving care of the injured (trauma care) is a way to the large burden of injury in low- and middle-income countries. The important initial period of trauma care is often chaotic and prone to errors. The World Health Organization created a Trauma Care Checklist (TCC), which improved key performance indicators of care at tertiary hospitals but encountered factors which decreased its uptake. The investigators propose the use of a model Trauma Intake Form (TIF) with potential to achieve the benefits of the TCC, but with automatic usage and with accompanying improvements in documentation for key elements of care. It is especially oriented for smaller hospitals. The investigators propose a pragmatic randomized clinical trial with introduction of the TIF at 8 hospitals sequentially, with start times randomized by stepped-wedge design. Specifically, the investigators aim to determine the effectiveness the TIF to function as a checklist for increasing the appropriate use of key performance indicators during care of the injured in emergency units of non-tertiary hospitals in Ghana, as assessed by independent observers; to determine the percent of injured patients with adequate data on initial assessment before vs. after introduction of the TIF in emergency units of non-tertiary hospitals in Ghana; and to increase the capacity of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the network of non-tertiary hospitals in southern Ghana to undertake high-quality trauma care research, including clinical trials.