There are about 53 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Sierra Leone. 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.
Vaccine hesitancy is defined by the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization as a 'delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services'. This varies in form and intensity based on when and where it occurs and what vaccine is involved. Several prophylactic vaccines against COVID-19 are currently available. As the world is beginning the roll-out the first approved vaccines, little is known about people's potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine in most of the African countries. ACHES (African COVID -19Vaccine Hesitancy) is an observational study aimed at measuring COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in five west African countries and exploring causes behind the hesitancy with the main objective of informing guidelines for the proficient roll-out of the vaccines in the region.
This is an open-label study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of a booster dose of Ad26.ZEBOV administered to children who were previously vaccinated with Ad26.ZEBOV followed by MVA-BN-Filo 56 days later.
This study will pilot a family-focused, behavioral health intervention while also developing and piloting mHealth tools to support Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Sierra Leone. This dual focus will help build capacity both for delivery of evidence-based mental health services to reduce family violence and harsh parenting practices, and for effective use of mHealth strategies to improve healthcare delivery quality. This study will leverage Government of Sierra Leone investments in community health initiatives as a strategy to address critical healthcare workforce limitations that plague delivery of evidence-based interventions to vulnerable families in post-conflict Sierra Leone. Study aims are to: Aim 1. Employ a five-phase user-centered design approach to develop and test mHealth tools to improve training, supervision, and fidelity monitoring of Community Health Workers. Study investigators hypothesize that mHealth tools will be feasible, acceptable, and user-friendly. Aim 2. Conduct a Randomized Controlled Pilot Study to assess feasibility, acceptability, costs and preliminary effects of the mHealth-supported delivery of FSI-ECD on parent mental health, emotion regulation, and familial violence in high risk families with children aged 6-36 months (n=40) in comparison to control families (n=40) who receive standard care. Parental mental health, emotion regulation, household violence, and parenting practices will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention and 6-month follow-up. Study investigators hypothesize that (a) the effects of the FSI-ECD will be comparable to results observed with vulnerable families in Rwanda; (b) digital tools will be feasible and acceptable to CHWs and supervisors. Aim 3. Leverage well-established relationships and government partners to strengthen capacity for mHealth research and quality healthcare delivery in Sierra Leone. Partners include the University of Makeni, the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is the standard of care for the treatment of SAM. UNICEF requires that there be no oil separation in these products necessitating the use of emulsifiers. The effect of emulsifiers on gut health and integrity in children receiving an exclusive diet of RUTF is unknown. The PIs have recently completed a randomized, triple-blind, controlled, clinical equivalency trial in Sierra Leone comparing the alternative oat RUTF (oat-RUTF) to standard RUTF on recovery rates in children with SAM. This study demonstrated higher rates of recovery among children receiving the oat-RUTF. The investigators hypothesize that this benefit may be due to the lack of emulsifier in the oat-RUTF resulting in improved intestinal health.This research project is a double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical effectiveness trial comparing a novel RUTF containing oats and no emulsifier and standard RUTF on recovery from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and effects on intestinal health. The trial will be conducted in up to 40 PHUs in Western Rural and Pujehun Districts where supplementary feeding programs (SFP) are not currently available.
This study is to look at the types of sugar and protein composition in the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition and its effects on gut health. The study will use 4 different types of ready to use supplementary foods to see which one if any has better recovery rate along with looking into the gut health. Children will be treated using one food for up to 12 weeks. A subset of about 400 will be tested for intestinal permeability using the dual sugar test.
Sierra Leone faces the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world. Despite this extreme burden, the potential roles of obstetric critical care and high dependency units (HDUs) in this and other resource-limited settings remain scarcely explored. This study investigated epidemiology, clinical outcomes and risk factors for mortality in critically-ill parturients admitted to an obstetric HDU in a high volume, urban resource-limited maternity hospital.
In the Contagious Misinformation Trial the investigators aim to debunk prevalent misinformation about an infectious disease using two evidence-based methods of debunking. The two debunking methods are packaged in two audio dramas of 4 episodes each, which will be sent to the WhatsApp of participants who are randomised to intervention group 1 or 2. The control group will receive audio messages about a different topic. The primary outcome is the reduction in belief in two misinformation statements about the infectious diseases.
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and reactogenicity of a heterologous 2-dose regimen utilizing Ad26.ZEBOV (first vaccination; Dose 1) and MVA-BN-Filo (second vaccination; Dose 2) administered intramuscularly (IM) on Days 1 and 57, respectively (Main Study) and also to provide the heterologous 2-dose vaccination regimen (Ad26.ZEBOV on Day 1 and MVABN-Filo on Day 57) to participants in the control arm of the main study (Extension Phase).
the study aims to assess the reliability of ultrasound findings measured by hand held ultrasound probes used by operators with variable experience in a low resource hospital.
This study aims at describing the frequency, timing and type of pulmonary complications detected with lung ultrasound in critically-ill parturients in admitted to a high-dependency unit in Freetown, Sierra Leone.