Evaluation of a systematic postal screening and treatment service for genital Chlamydia trachomatis, with remote clinic access via the internet: a cross-sectional study, East of England.

OBJECTIVE: England's National Chlamydia Screening Programme provides opportunistic testing for all 15-24-year-olds in healthcare and non-healthcare settings. The authors undertook an evaluation of a population service-based postal chlamydia screening and treatment service, with registration and access to the service via the internet, in order to target screening interventions more effectively in future. METHODS: Individuals aged between 18 and 24 years, within the North East Essex Primary Care Trust, were identified for chlamydia screening by the service between 1 December 2008 and 31 January 2009. Associations between test uptake and positivity, and individuals' personal characteristics, were examined. The efficacy of partner notification was estimated, and the costs of screening were compared with the national average. RESULTS: Uptake of chlamydia screening was 11.5%, with lower response rates among men, individuals older than 20 years and those living in more deprived areas. The chlamydia positivity was 4.4% and higher in those reporting multiple sexual partners, individuals older than 20 years and those living in more deprived areas. The proportion of partners notified per index case was 0.17. The service contributed to 3431 of the overall 11,209 annual chlamydia screens of the Primary Care Trust in 2008-2009, at a cost of £ 78 per screening test completed and £ 1764 per case detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation shows that this service model can contribute substantially to the overall coverage of chlamydia screening tests. However, the costs of service provision per case detected and treated, using this model, were high compared to the National Chlamydia Screening Programme.

Applying learning health systems thinking in codeveloping integrated tuberculosis interventions in the contexts of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic reversed much of global progress made in combatting tuberculosis, with South Africa experiencing one of the largest impacts on tuberculosis detection. The aim of this paper is to share our experiences in applying learning health systems (LHS) thinking to the codevelopment of an intervention improving an integrated response to COVID-19 and tuberculosis in a South African district. A sequential partially mixed-methods study was undertaken between 2018 and 2021 in the district of Amajuba in KwaZulu-Natal. Here, we report on the formulation of a Theory of Change, codesigning and refining proposed interventions, and piloting and evaluating codesigned interventions in primary healthcare facilities, through an LHS lens. Following the establishment and formalisation of a district Learning Community, diagnostic work and a codevelopment of a theory of change, intervention packages tailored according to pandemic lockdowns were developed, piloted and scaled up. This process illustrates how a community of learning can generate more responsive, localised interventions, and suggests that the establishment of a shared space of research governance can provide a degree of resilience to facilitate adaption to external shocks. Four main lessons have been gleaned from our experience in adopting an LHS approach in a South African district, which are (1) the importance of building and sustaining relationships, (2) the utility of colearning, coproduction and adaptive capacity, (3) the centrality of theory-driven systems strengthening and (4) reflections on LHS as a framework.

ImPROving TB outcomes by modifying LIFE-style behaviours through a brief motivational intervention followed by short text messages (ProLife): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: South Africa is among the seven highest tuberculosis (TB) burden countries. Harmful lifestyle behaviours, such as smoking and alcohol, and poor adherence to medication can affect clinical outcomes. Modification of these behaviours is likely to improve TB treatment outcomes and has proven possible using motivational interviewing (MI) techniques or use of short message service (SMS) text messaging. There have been no studies assessing the effect of combined MI and SMS interventions on multiple lifestyle factors and TB treatment outcomes. METHODS: This is a prospective, multicentre, two-arm individual randomised controlled trial looking at the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a complex behavioural intervention (the ProLife programme) on improving TB and lifestyle-related outcomes in three provinces of South Africa. The ProLife programme consists of an MI counselling strategy, delivered by lay health workers, augmented with subsequent SMS. We aim to recruit 696 adult participants (aged 18 years and over) with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB who are current smokers and/or report harmful or hazardous alcohol use. Patients will be consecutively enrolled at 27 clinics in three different health districts in South Africa. Participants randomised individually to the intervention arm will receive three MI counselling sessions one month apart. Each MI session will be followed by twice-weekly SMS messages targeting treatment adherence, alcohol use and tobacco smoking, as appropriate. We will assess the effect on TB treatment success, using standard World Health Organization (WHO) treatment outcome definitions (primary outcome), as well as on a range of secondary outcomes including smoking cessation, reduction in alcohol use, and TB medication and anti-retroviral therapy adherence. Secondary outcomes will be measured at the three-month and six-month follow-ups. DISCUSSION: This trial aligns with the WHO agenda of integrating TB care with the care for chronic diseases of lifestyle, such as provision of smoking cessation treatments, and with the use of digital technologies. If the ProLife programme is found to be effective and cost-effective, the programme could have significant implications for TB treatment globally and could be successfully implemented in a wide range of TB treatment settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN62728852. Registered on 13 April 2018.

Effects of PACK guide training on the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by primary care clinicians: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial in Florianópolis, Brazil.

INTRODUCTION: The Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) guide was localised for Brazil, where primary care doctors and nurses were trained to use it. METHODS: Twenty-four municipal clinics in Florianópolis were randomly allocated to receive outreach training and the guide, and 24 were allocated to receive only the guide. 6666 adult patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were enrolled, and trial outcomes were measured over 12 months, using electronic medical records. The primary outcomes were composite scores of treatment changes and spirometry, and new asthma and COPD diagnosis rates. RESULTS: Asthma scores in 2437 intervention group participants were higher (74.8%, 20.4% and 4.8% with scores of 0, 1 and 2, respectively) than in 2633 control group participants (80.0%, 16.8% and 3.2%) (OR for higher score 1.32, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.61, p=0.006). Adjusted for asthma scores recorded in each clinic before training started, the OR was 1.24 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.50, p=0.022). COPD scores in 1371 intervention group participants (77.7%, 17.9% and 4.3% with scores of 0, 1 and 2) did not differ from those in 1181 control group participants (80.5%, 15.8% and 3.7%) (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.55, p=0.142). Rates of new asthma and COPD diagnoses, and hospital admission, and indicators of investigation, diagnosis and treatment of comorbid cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression, and tobacco cessation did not differ between trial arms. CONCLUSION: PACK training increased guideline-based treatment and spirometry for asthma but did not affect COPD or comorbid conditions, or diagnosis rates. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02786030 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/).

Cost-effectiveness of community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children.

Severe acute malnutrition affects 20 million children aged under 5 years old worldwide. Medical complications and death are common, but nutritional and medical treatment can result in good outcomes. Randomized trials of treatment after in-patient stabilization have shown community-based treatment to have similar outcomes to hospital-based treatment, at lower cost. Community-based ambulatory treatment, with in-patient care reserved for the most severe cases, is increasingly being implemented in Africa but has not been evaluated in randomized trials. Community-based treatment programs have shown favorable outcomes. Economic evaluations of community-based treatment have included cost analyses, cost and consequence analyses and decision analyses. Treatment costs have been consistently lower than for institution-based treatment. Costs of ambulatory community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition have ranged between US$46 to $453 per child, depending on the type of care provided and the costing methods used. Recent studies have reported on costs and outcomes of similar large-scale African programs covering geographically defined populations, with ambulatory care for most children, and initial in-patient stabilization for the minority with most severe disease. In these studies the costs ranged from US$129 to $201 per child, and mortality rates ranged from 1.2 to 9.2%, depending on length of follow-up. A decision tree model based on such a program in Zambia estimated that community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition in primary-care centers, with hospital access, cost US$203 per case treated, US$1760 per life saved, and US$53 per disability-adjusted life year gained, compared with no treatment. This latter cost per disability-adjusted life year gained suggests that community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition is cost effective compared with other priority health interventions in low-income countries, and compared with such countries' national incomes.