Does a door-to-door delivery strategy increase the utilisation of insecticide-treated bed nets in the Maniema province, Democratic Republic of Congo?

ISRCTN ISRCTN75108951
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN75108951
Secondary identifying numbers NMPC112015
Submission date
30/08/2018
Registration date
18/02/2019
Last edited
22/03/2023
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Other
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Malaria remains a major public health problem in the world, although significant progress has been made in recent decades. In the World Health Organization African Region countries, more than 40% of malaria-attributed deaths occur in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria. There is a huge gap between possession and effective use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) in DRC. The difference between possession and use of ITNs and the risk of household loss can be corrected by using the “door to door” strategy combined with the "hang up" method, which is done by installing ITNs on the beneficiaries’ beds. We aim to investigate the effect of the door to door distribution strategy of ITNs combined with the "hang up" method in the context of mass ITNs distribution campaigns in DR Congo.

Who can participate?
Children aged under 5, pregnant mothers or family members of either of these, living in the Maniema province

What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly allocated to either the intervention or the control group. Households in the intervention group will receive insecticide-treated bed nets, delivered to their door and hung up outside their house. Households in the control group will be given a token and informed of a specific place within their community where they can collect a net from.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The possible benefit to participants taking part is that they could be protected from malaria. There are no known risks to participants taking part in this study.

Where is the study run from?
School of Public Health, Kinshasa University (Democratic Republic of Congo)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2013 to December 2018

Who is funding the study?
The Episcopal Church Center (USA)

Who is the main contact?
Professor Yan Jin
jinyan1024@gmail.com

Contact information

Prof Yan Jin
Scientific

Department of Microbiology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Dongdae-Ro 123
Gyounju
38066
Korea, South

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-6118-2069

Study information

Study designInterventional single-centre repeated cross-sectional experimental cluster randomised controlled trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designCluster randomised trial
Study setting(s)Community
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet
Scientific titleEffect of long lasting insecticide-treated nets distribution with door-to-door delivery strategy combined with hang-up method on the utilisation of nets in the Maniema province, Democratic Republic of Congo
Study objectivesWe expect that the long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) utilisation rate will be significantly higher among those who received the door-to-door distribution of nets combined with hang-up methods.
Ethics approval(s)Kinshasa University, 09/09/2013, ESP/CE/071/13
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedHealth behaviours, attitude, and knowledge about malaria prevention, particularly mosquito net utilisation
InterventionHealth areas will be randomly allocated into either the intervention or the control group in a 1:1 ratio using a computer-generated block randomisation list. In intervention communities, all households receive one visit by members of the village health team. The team deliver ilong lasting insecticide treated bed nets (LLINs) to every household, door-to-door. The nets will be hung-up inside their house. In control communities, the village health team notify the community of the availability of LLINs from one place in the community, and provide them with tokens. LLINs are then distributed to those who visit this specific place.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measureUnder 5 children’s utilisation of the LLINs during the previous night, assessed by a cross-sectional household survey at the baseline and 12 months after the distribution of LLINs

For the evaluation of the interventions, two cross-sectional household surveys were carried out. The baseline survey was done before the mass distribution in 2013. The end-line survey was conducted 12 months after the distribution of mosquito nets in 2015. The primary outcome is the utilization of insecticide-treated mosquito nets of under-five children at the time of the survey. The measurement was done through direct observation.
Secondary outcome measuresThe following are assessed by a cross-sectional household survey at the baseline and 12 months after the distribution of LLINs:
1. Pregnant women’s utilisation of the LLINs during the previous night
2. Family member’s utilisation of the LLINs during the previous night
Overall study start date20/03/2013
Completion date31/12/2018

Eligibility

Participant type(s)All
Age groupAll
SexBoth
Target number of participants2100 households
Key inclusion criteriaAnyone who fits any of the following criteria may participate in this study:
1. Children aged under 5
2. Pregnant mothers
3. Family members of the above
Key exclusion criteriaN/A
Date of first enrolment20/09/2013
Date of final enrolment30/08/2015

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Congo, Democratic Republic

Study participating centre

School of Public Health, Kinshasa University
Avenue de l'Université
Kinshasa
BP 127 Kinshasa XI
Congo, Democratic Republic

Sponsor information

Dongguk University
University/education

Department of Microbiology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea. 123, Dongdae-Ro, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea
Gyeongju-si
38066
Korea, South

Website http://med.dongguk.ac.kr/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/057q6n778

Funders

Funder type

Other

The Episcopal Church Center

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/12/2018
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot expected to be made available
Publication and dissemination planPlanned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article 27/08/2021 22/03/2023 Yes No

Editorial Notes

22/03/2023: Publication reference added.
22/02/2019: Internal review.