Impact evaluation of a cash transfer pilot program in the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: to determine whether distribution of cash during pregnancy and infancy improves the nutritional status of mothers and young children.

ISRCTN ISRCTN83330970
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN83330970
Submission date
12/05/2014
Registration date
09/09/2014
Last edited
26/01/2021
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
The cash transfer program is tried by the PdC (Projet de Développement Communautaire), Government of Togo, in five districts of the Kara and Savanes regions in Togo. This program will provide cash to women during the first 1000 days of pregnancy, lactation and the child’s first 2 years including attending prenatal visits, attending nutrition, health and hygiene education sessions, birth registration and children schooling. The expected result of the program is to improve growth of the baby during pregnancy and early childhood, and improve children’s well-being and social protection. Our aim is to see if the giving cash to women have an impact on children’s growth, well-being and social protection.

Who can participate?
Pregnant/lactating women and infants/young children under 2 years of age can take part.

What does the study involve?
Women and children will be randomly allocated to one of two groups:
Group A (control group): women and children attend education sessions
Group B (intervention): in addition to the education sessions, women receive a cash transfer worth 5000 FCFA (about 8 euros) per month over a maximum of 30 months (about 1000 days).
The children and their mothers will be seen right before the program starts (baseline) and at the end of the program. Women will have to answer questions about what happened during their pregnancy, what they eat, their knowledge of nutrition, hygiene and health, their habits, as well as questions about their child’s health and nutrition. The height and weight of both mothers and children will be measured.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants will benefit from the intervention which is expected to promote better nutrition for children and better health monitoring during and after pregnancy. This should result in a reduction of illness and growth retardation in children. The whole community will also benefit from the program since the results of the study will be used to extend the program to other areas in Togo. The study does not present any risk for participants, as only questionnaires and painless and non-invasive measurements will be taken. There should be no side effects .

Where is the study run from?
The program is set up in 162 villages in five districts of the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: Dankpen, Keran, Doufelgou, Oti, Kpendjal.

When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in June 2014 and will last 2 years.

Who is funding the study?
1. The World Bank (USA)
2. UNICEF (USA)
3. Research Institute for Development (France)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Mathilde Savy
mathilde.savy@ird.fr

Contact information

Dr Mathilde Savy
Scientific

IRD-LARTES
Camp Jérémy
Dakar
BP206
Senegal

Email mathilde.savy@ird.fr

Study information

Study designTwo-year cluster-randomised controlled trial, with repeated cross-sectional surveys (baseline and endline)
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Other
Study typePrevention
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a participant information sheet
Scientific titleImpact evaluation of a cash transfer pilot program in the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: a randomised controlled trial to determine whether cash transfers during the first 1,000 days from conception though to infancy improve the nutritional status of mothers and young children
Study objectivesIt is hypothesised that the cash transfers during the first 1,000 days (from conception to the child's first 2 years) will optimize growth in utero and during infancy and early childhood.

The null hypothesis is that there will be no difference in nutritional indicators between treatment groups; this may arise if the value of the transfer is insufficient or if the money received is not used properly.
Ethics approval(s)Comité de Bioéthique pour la Recherche en Santé, Ministère de la Santé, Lomé, Togo [Bioethics Committee for Research in Health, Health Ministry of Lomé, Togo]; 28/03/2014
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedGrowth retardation
Intervention1. Group A (control group): women and children attend education sessions
2. Group B (intervention): in addition to education sessions, women receive a cash transfer worth 5000 FCFA (~8 euros) per month over a maximum of 30 months (~1000 days)
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measureChildren's stature after 2 years of intervention, expressed in Height-for-Age Z score
Secondary outcome measuresCurrent secondary outcome measures as of 28/08/2020:
1. Stunting
2. WHZ, wasting
3. Intermediary outcomes:
3.1. Child’s nutrition: IYCF practices (DDS7, MDD, MMF, MAD, iron-rich food), consumption of Animal source food (ASF)
3.2. Mother’s nutrition: MDD-W, DDS 10, number of meals, consumption of ASF
3.2. Household food insecurity: HFIAS (HHS)
3.3. Household food expenditures (as opposed to non-food expenditures)
3.4. Child’s health: morbidity on the previous 15 days, child’s health since birth as perceived by the mother, vaccination, vitamin A supplementation, deworming, regular medical follow-up and age at last medical follow-up, health-seeking behavior (children taken to a health center if sick)
3.5. Maternal health: prenatal and postnatal care (number of consultations, stage of pregnancy at first antenatal visit, TPI malaria, tetanus vaccine, iron supplementation) delivery in health facilities, delivery assisted by a skill birth attendant, birth weight and LBW of newborns
3.6. Child’s hygiene: hands, face, hair and clothes’ cleanliness
3.7. Mother’s hygiene: hands, face, hair and clothes’ cleanliness
3.8. Yard’s hygiene: animal feces, waste
3.9. Mother’s knowledge on nutrition, health and hygiene
3.10. Decision-making power of women
3.11. Intimate partner violence (IPV)
3.12. Child fostering
3.13. Enrollment in school
3.14 Birth registration


Previous secondary outcome measures:
1. Use of preventive healthcare services during pregnancy, for delivery and during early childhood (pregnancy and post-natal care)
2. Infant and Young Children Feeding practices (IYCF indicators including dietary diversity)
3. Weight-for-Height Z score
4. Child well-being and rights (birth registration, schooling)
5. Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards nutrition, hygiene and health
Overall study start date17/05/2014
Completion date30/06/2016

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupChild
Upper age limit59 Months
SexBoth
Target number of participants4208 child-mother pairs
Total final enrolment4689
Key inclusion criteriaChildren and their mothers willing to participate in the study, living in the villages which have been randomly selected as the treatment or control group. There are two stages to the trial:
1. Cash transfers: Pregnant women and their children up until the child is 24 months old
2. Evaluation: 6-59 month old children and their mothers that have taken part in the trial having received cash transfers and education sessions (treatment group) or as controls (education sessions only)
Key exclusion criteriaChildren and mothers having a mental or physical handicap that could affect growth and well-being.
Date of first enrolment17/05/2014
Date of final enrolment30/06/2016

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • France
  • Togo

Study participating centre

IRD
911 av. Agropolis
Montpellier
34394
France

Sponsor information

Research Institute for Development [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement] (IRD) (France)
Research organisation

Immeuble Le Sextant
CS 90009, 44 Boulevard Dunkerque
Marseille
13572
France

ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/05q3vnk25

Funders

Funder type

Government

The World Bank (USA)

No information available

UNICEF (Togo)
Government organisation / International organizations
Alternative name(s)
United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, Fonds des Nations Unies pour l'enfance, Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia, صندوق الأمم المتحدة للطفولة, 联合国儿童基金会
Location
United States of America
Research Institute for Development [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement] (IRD) (France)

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date31/10/2020
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryStored in repository
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 will be stored in a publically available repository. All data files are available from the Zenodo repository: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3925899 (https://zenodo.org/record/3925899#.XvzMkufgphG) and no accession number is required for access.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Protocol file 01/02/2014 04/09/2020 No No
Results article results 17/11/2020 26/01/2021 Yes No

Additional files

ISRCTN83330970_PROTOCOL_01Feb2014.pdf
uploaded 04/09/2020

Editorial Notes

26/01/2021: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The total final enrolment was added.
04/09/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The publication and dissemination plan was added.
2. The intention to publish date was added.
3. Uploaded protocol (not peer reviewed) Version 1.0, 01 February 2014.
4. The participant level data was added.
28/08/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The secondary outcome measures were changed.
2. The trial participating centre address was updated.