Effects of community health volunteers on infectious diseases of children under five in Volta Region, Ghana: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

BMC Public Health

Study Protocol

Abdul-Ghaffa Adam¹  Joseph Kwami Degley²  Yeonji Ma³  Gyuhong Lee³  Jaeeun Lee³  Yinseo Cho³  Hoonsang Lee³  Seungman Cha⁴  Heunghee Kim⁵ 

[1] Devtplan Consult Limited, 212 Lame Dwaahe Street, Adenta-Accra, Ghana;Ketu South Municipal Health Directorate (Ghana Health Service), P.O. Box 126, Aflao, Volta Region, Ghana;Korea International Cooperation Agency, 825 Daewangpangyo-ro, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeongi-do, Republic of Korea;Korea International Cooperation Agency, 825 Daewangpangyo-ro, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeongi-do, Republic of Korea;Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT, London, UK;Korea International Development Institute, 92 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Community health workers;    Community health systems;    Diarrhea;    Malaria;    Child health;    Ghana;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-3991-z

 received in 2016-08-18, accepted in 2016-12-23,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn many low- and middle-income countries, community health volunteers (CHVs) are employed as a key element of the public health system in rural areas with poor accessibility. However, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of CHVs in improving child health in sub-Saharan Africa through randomized controlled trials. The present study aims to measure the impact of health promotion and case management implemented by CHVs on the health of under-5 children in Ghana.Methods/DesignThis study presents the protocol of a cluster-randomized controlled trial assessing the impacts of CHVs, in which the community was used as the randomization unit. A phase-in design will be adopted, and the intervention arm will be implemented in the intervention arm during the first phase and in the control arm during the second phase. The key intervention is the deployment of CHVs, who provide health education, provide oral rehydration solutions and zinc tablets to children with diarrhea, and diagnose malaria using a thermometer and a rapid diagnostic test kit during home visits. The primary endpoints of the study are the prevalence of diarrhea and fever/malaria in children under 5 years of age, as well as the proportion of affected children receiving case management for diarrhea and malaria. The first and second rounds of household surveys to collect data will be conducted in the first phase, and the final round will be conducted during the second phase.DiscussionWith growing attention paid to the roles of CHVs as an essential part of the community health system in low-income countries, this study will contribute valuable information to the body of knowledge on the effects of CHVs.Trial registrationISRCTN49236178. (June 16th, 2015)

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017