There are about 300 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Nepal. 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.
Malnutrition is considered one of the most prevalent risk factors for morbidity and mortality in children under five. An estimated 20% of children in the developing world are malnourished [1] and poor nutrition is linked to more than half of all child deaths worldwide [2]. Malnutrition in early childhood may lead to cognitive and physical deficits and may cause similar deficits in future generations as malnourished mothers give birth to low birth weight children [3]. In addition, malnutrition increases susceptibility and incidence of infections and is associated with diminished response to vaccines. The MAL-ED Project is designed to determine the impact of enteric infections/diarrhea that alter gut function and impair children's nutrition, growth and development to help develop new intervention strategies that can break the vicious enteric infection-malnutrition cycle and reduce its global burden. The overall objective of the MAL-ED Project is to quantify the associations of specific enteric pathogens, measures of physical and mental development, micronutrient malnutrition, gut function biomarkers, the gut microbiome, and immune responses in very young children in resource-limited settings across eight sites that vary by culture, economics, geography, and climate. The central hypothesis of the MAL-ED Project is that infection (and co-infection) with specific enteropathogens leads to impaired growth and development and to diminished immune response to orally administered vaccines by causing intestinal inflammation and/or by altering intestinal barrier and absorptive function. Data analyses will test for associations between enteropathogen infections and growth/development to help illuminate: - which micro-organisms or mixed infections are most frequently associated with growth faltering and poor development; and - at what age specific infections cause the most disruption to growth and development and impair immune response.
Hypertension contributes to significant burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in low and middle-income countries; however responses to CVDs are inadequate particularly due to lack of conclusive evidence on population based approach to hypertension control. This is a community based cluster randomized trial involving family based health education through female community health volunteers in Nepal. People ≥25 years of age and who are listed in the voter list 2006 of Electoral Commission of Nepal who were either hypertensive, pre-hypertensive or normotensive are eligible for eligible for participation in the study. A computer generated random codes will be used to divide clusters into treatment and control arm. FCHVs will conduct family based health education and blood pressure measurements in the treatment arm vs not any interventions in control arm. Independent assessors will conduct the baseline and end line assessment of the intervention. Intention to treat analysis and per protocol analysis will be used in analysis to detect significant differences between treatment and control group participants at baseline and follow up. Student t-tests for normally distributed variables and chi-squared tests for categorical variables will be used. In the event that randomization do not control for differences between the treatment and control groups on baseline characteristics, the investigators will statistically control for those differences in subsequent analysis of program effects. The final outcome will be modeled by using multiple linear regressions analysis. The investigators hope that if the intervention outcomes shows positive effects in treatment arm, this approach can be adopted into the existing health care delivery system in Nepal. Assessing the FCHVs' ability may further contribute to developing a policy that can be scaled-up to a national level. The lessons learned from this project may also be replicated in rural areas and similar settings elsewhere in the world.
Globally, access to mental healthcare is often non-existent in rural, resource-deprived communities despite the pervasive need for services, particularly in post-conflict and post-disaster settings. We are developing and piloting will develop and pilot a culturally appropriate training model for non-specialist providers (NSPs) to deliver high-quality mental health care over a period of 24 months in a primary care hospital in a rural district in Nepal. We will employ a mixed methods framework to evaluate change in skills, knowledge, and attitude in NSP's, identify key mechanisms for continuum of mental healthcare delivery, and efficacy and cost-effectiveness in care delivery through a government hospital, clinics, and a network of community health workers. This integrated approach will introduce a bundled intervention that includes: both an on-site care coordinator and off-site psychiatric supervisors based in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, weekly case conferences, and surveys of NSP's and clinical supervisors every six months during the study period. To learn about the acceptability, feasibility and challenges in the program we will also conduct Focus Group Discussions among the PCPs. In the last one year of the research in Achham District we have seen increase in knowledge efficacy and skills among the NSPs and also improved mental health care services at Bayalpata Hospital. Our experience in Achham motivated us to develop a similar program for Charikot Primary Health Center in Dolakha District. Outcomes of this study will focus on efficacy of this model to appropriately identify, counsel, and treat patients with depression, psychosis, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through an integrated rural mental healthcare delivery intervention as a model for rural healthcare delivery.
Globally, over seven million children under the age of five die each year, although a suite of interventions—safe delivery care, neonatal care and resuscitation, and management of childhood diarrhea, malnutrition, and pneumonia—can prevent many of these deaths when implemented within functioning health systems. This study will include a quasi experimental, stepped wedge, cluster-controlled trial of a mobile health care coordination and quality improvement intervention designed to facilitate comprehensive health systems strengthening. It will do this through training and equipping community-level health care clinics to manage chronic diseases through use of the Chronic Care Model, structured quality improvement sessions to promote clinical mentorship, and use of an integrated electronic medical record to provide real-time data for disease surveillance. The investigators hypothesize that improving upon the health system in these ways will lead to a 25% reduction in under-two mortality through improved services for the citizens of Achham, Nepal.
In rural Nepal, the major drivers of underutilization of skilled birth attendance are poverty, poor social support and inadequate birth planning. Drawing from similar programs that have been shown to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes, we have designed a group antenatal care program that uses a participatory learning and action process to engage women in identifying and solving problems accessing maternity care services and create a supportive social network. We plan to test a group antenatal care program that will change antenatal care in three major ways: 1) conduct care in a group setting with women matched by gestational age, 2) incorporate participatory learning and action, and 3) provide expert and facilitated peer counseling.
Comparison of intraoperative infusion of lidocaine and esmolol in the postoperative requirement of opioid for postoperative pain management after laparoscopic cholecystectomy to decrease opioid related side effects and enhance postoperative recovery with multimodal analgesia approach.
This is a feasibility and clinical evaluation study of the VisuMax femtosecond laser for refractive correction of hyperopia using the small incision lenticule extraction (ReLEx smile) method. In ReLEx® the VisuMax femtosecond laser creates two interfaces that define a refractive lenticule of stromal tissue. In ReLEx® FLEx, the upper interface is converted into a LASIK flap by the creation of a sidecut. The LASIK flap is lifted and the lenticule can be removed to correct the refractive error by tissue subtraction. In ReLEx® smile, the lenticule is dissected and removed through a small 2-3mm incision without the need to create a whole flap. The aims are i) to optimize the VisuMax settings for lenticule separation ii) to optimize the lenticule geometry iii) to assess the safety, efficacy and stability of the treatment
Rationale: Globally, vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies. The only relevant source of Vitamin B12 is animal-source foods. Vitamin B12 is crucial for normal cell division and is necessary for brain growth as well as for the maintenance of its normal function. Deficiency is also associated with impaired growth. In a previous study, we demonstrated that vitamin B12 administration over a period of six months enhanced growth, and scores on a neuro-developmental test in young Indian children. However, the overall effect was small and, for the developmental scores significant only in those that were malnourished at the start of the study. Our findings need to be verified in trials targeting younger, malnourished children and with longer supplementation time. Hypothesis: This proposed study will test three hypotheses; to measure to what extent 2 recommended daily allowances (RDA) of vitamin B12 administration for one year to stunted children improves; 1) growth, 2) neurodevelopment, and 3) hemoglobin concentration. Study design: Randomized placebo-controlled trial. Half of the children will receive a paste containing vitamin B12, the other half the same paste but without vitamin B12. Study participants and site: 600 malnourished infants in Bhaktapur municipality in Nepal. In this population we have demonstrated that vitamin B12 deficiency and poor growth is common in early childhood. Intervention: Daily administration of a paste containing vitamin B12 or placebo for 12 months Data: The main outcomes of this study are scores on developmental assessments tools and growth measured every month for 12 months.
AMS (acute mountain sickness) affects those who ascend too high (>2000m) too fast. Acetazolamide is an effective drug for the prevention of AMS where proper acclimatization with gradual ascent may not be an option. AMS presents with headache and other non-specific symptoms such as nausea, tiredness, and dizziness. Because of the side effects of acetazolamide such as a tingling sensation, other drugs have been investigated to see if they will prevent AMS. Ibuprofen has recently been shown to prevent AMS. In this present study the investigators want to see if acetaminophen can also prevent AMS as acetaminophen unlike ibuprofen does not have gastric side effects. Second, because acetaminophen has much less anti-inflammatory component than ibuprofen, it may also provide some insight into the pathophysiology of AMS if acetaminophen were found to be effective in the prevention of AMS.
The current study goal is to examine the effect of Cephalosporins, Azithromycin and the combination of both on typhoid fever therapy in endemic population. The investigator's hypothesize that the combination of azithromycin and ceftriaxone may prove superior to each drug, ceftriaxone or azithromycin, alone.