There are about 131 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Rwanda. 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.
MARLIN is a stratified, multi-arm, multi-stage factorial randomised platform trial aiming to reduce the incidence of post-operative surgical site infection (SSI).
This proposed randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effect of maternal egg consumption during pregnancy on birth length. The study hypothesizes that mothers who consume two eggs a day will have children whose birth length is significantly longer than those born to mothers who consume a typical diet. Pregnant women (n=956) from Nyagatare District in Rwanda will be randomized into one of two study arms: a treatment group (T1) or a control group (T2). Mothers in the treatment arm will receive an animal source food (ASF) supplement of two eggs per day, from enrollment during first trimester through childbirth. Mothers in the control arm will be asked to continue consuming their typical diet. Mothers in both arms will receive standard information, education, and communication about health and nutrition during pregnancy and after birth. All enrolled mothers in the study will also receive up- to-date standard care for pregnant women, as outlined by the Government of Rwanda, a fortified blended flour if they are not already receiving it from the government, a mobile phone with cellular connection, health insurance if they do not already have, and compensation for traveling to a Community Health Worker's home every day for study engagement. All women will receive ultrasound examinations three times during pregnancy, as well as blood tests for anemia. Women in the control arm will receive additional compensation at childbirth. Women will be recruited and enrolled during first trimester (9-14 weeks gestational age), as confirmed by ultrasound. At enrollment, baseline data will be collected on socio-economic factors, maternal health, maternal diet, and fetal growth. Additional markers for maternal health and child growth and development, including markers for fetal brain development, will be collected during two targeted ante-natal clinic visits (20-26 weeks and 30-34 weeks), where all women will receive ultrasound assessment in addition to their typical clinical assessment. At childbirth, maternal and child health data will be collected, including birth outcomes, child anthropometry, and indicators of neurodevelopment. Additional follow-up of maternal and child health indicators, including maternal depression, and infant and young child feeding practices, will be collected at 1 month and 6 months of child age.
This is a prospective observational study enrolling People Living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on a Dolutegravir-based AntiRetroviral Treatment (ART) regimen and experiencing virologic failure. Virologic failure is defined as two consecutive viral load measurements of >1000 copies/mL of blood. The main aim of the study is to identify the drug-resistance mutations in the viral genome that are associated with this failure. To achieve this goal, patients fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be invited for a single study visit for the collection of blood. The extracted HIV virus will be sequenced through whole genome sequencing methods to identify the drug-resistance mutations. The study is conducted in 15-20 countries within six regions of the IeDEA cohort (International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS).
Transfusion medicine is closely linked with safe surgery. Transfusion Camp is a multidisciplinary educational project aimed at improving transfusion medicine knowledge in physicians. The course has been piloted in Rwanda, showing improvement in participant knowledge and confidence, resulting in its recommended implementation into the medical school curriculum. This project aims to evaluate a multi-day Transfusion Camp course mandatory for graduating medical students and first-year interns practicing in district hospitals in Rwanda. Its implementation is evaluated through pre- and post-course testing, collecting participants' blood ordering practices following the course, and conducting participant interviews about barriers to safe transfusion medicine in their hospital.
The aim of this study is to perform a performance evaluation of novel diagnostic tools for detecting malaria in malaria-endemic countries. At the beginning of 2022, FIND launched a call for innovation with the distinct aim to identify malaria innovations that have the potential to address the technical and operational limitations of current malaria RDTs, particularly in view of the emergence of P. falciparum parasites with hrp2/3 deletions, the need for improved tools to identify all Plasmodium species and/or the need for improved surveillance. This study will generate valuable data on the performance of these novel non-HRP2-based tests and inform FIND and developers on technical and operational assay optimization requirements for accelerated access of these tools to market.
This is a mixed-methods program evaluation from a health systems and policy perspective, involving (i) stakeholder analysis, (ii) policy-implementation gap analysis, and (iii) comparative country case studies. This study aims to understand how national oxygen strategies achieve impact at national, and subnational level, across country contexts, at what cost. The the investigators seek to: 1. Involve policymakers, implementers (including private sector), and medical oxygen users in identifying challenges and understanding potential solutions to medical oxygen access; 2. Generate new data on how medical oxygen systems work and can be improved from multiple perspectives; 3. Draw lessons on medical oxygen that can directly inform national and global practice and policy. This study will be conducted in 6 of the 9 countries participating in the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) led Medical Oxygen Implementation (MOXY) program (Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia, Lao PDR, Cambodia). Key informants will be selected representing government, non-governmental agencies, professional associations, private sector, and civil society. This study will be completed over 4 years, with timelines varying between country study sites.
REAL-MOXY is a set of 5 mixed methods studies designed to understand how oxygen and pulse oximetry are used (or not used) at a facility level, to identify opportunities and barriers for strengthening oxygen systems for beneficiaries, users and managers.
The goal of this study is to assess the impact of a first aid training delivered through a blended learning approach on learning outcomes and helping behaviour in adult laypeople in Rwanda. Participants will be randomly assigned to either: - a first aid training with blended learning approach; - a first aid training with conventional face-to-face approach; - no first aid training. All participants will be asked before, immediately after, and 6 months after the first aid trainings to complete - a questionnaire on first aid-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and willingness to help; - a practical test on first aid-related skills. The helping behaviour of the participants will be surveyed before and 6 months after the first aid trainings have been completed. Researchers will compare the effects in learning outcomes and helping behaviour after 6 months between: - the first aid training with blended learning approach and no first aid training; - the first aid training with blended learning approach and first aid training with conventional face-to-face approach.
Partners In Health (PIH), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, aims to develop and evaluate an SMS-based intervention for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to combat COVID-19 and mental health-related misinformation in Haiti, Rwanda, and Malawi. The study involves three aims: identifying locally relevant misinformation through a card-sorting exercise with CHWs, developing targeted messages through cognitive interviewing, and evaluating the effectiveness of SMS-based educational message dissemination via a randomized controlled trial. The evaluation will assess the impact on public health practices, knowledge and attitudes among CHWs, and knowledge and attitudes among community members.
Acute hypoxemia is common and deadly in resource variable settings. While studies in high income countries (HICs) have indicated a possible benefit to high flow oxygen as compared with standard flow oxygen, rigorous studies in low or lower middle income countries (LMICs) have not been performed. Studies in sepsis have demonstrated that interventions that improve outcomes in one context may actually be neutral or harmful in a different context. The goal of this study is to test whether high flow oxygen results in better outcomes for hypoxemic adult patients, as compared with standard flow oxygen, in five LMIC hospitals. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. For hypoxemic adults in these LMIC study settings, does high flow oxygen or standard flow oxygen result in lower mortality? 2. What are the facilitators and barriers to using high flow oxygen in these settings? 3. Does high flow or standard flow oxygen use more oxygen? Participants will be randomized to receive either high flow oxygen through a large nasal cannula, or to receive standard flow oxygen, through nasal cannulas, face masks, or non-rebreather masks. Researchers will compare the outcomes for the two groups, to see if one group of patients has better outcomes than the other. The study will also examine how much oxygen is used by the two patient groups, as well as other factors relevant to the feasibility of implementation of high flow oxygen in these sites.