Mobile health messages for preventing childhood injuries in Bangladesh

ISRCTN	ISRCTN16988204
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN16988204

Submission date: 06/10/2025
Registration date: 14/10/2025
Last edited: 14/10/2025

Recruitment status: Recruiting
Overall study status: Ongoing
Condition category: Injury, Occupational Diseases, Poisoning

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aim
In Bangladesh, more than half of all child deaths are caused by injuries, with drowning being the biggest risk. Many of these injuries could be prevented, as they are often linked to a lack of awareness or supervision rather than unavoidable accidents. One promising way to prevent such injuries is by educating and prompting parents and caregivers about risks and safety practices. Mobile health (mHealth) messages such as text or voice messages sent to mobile phones have been successful in changing behaviour in other countries, but most of the evidence comes from high-income settings. This study will test whether a similar approach could work in rural Bangladesh.

Who can participate?
Caregivers/parents of children aged 15 years or younger

What does the study involve?
The intervention is voice or text messages providing information on how to prevent common childhood injuries and what to do if an injury happens. All caregivers of children aged 15 years or younger in two villages will receive these mobile messages for 24 weeks.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
We do not expect any risk or disadvantage from participating in this study. Participating in the study may not benefit individuals directly, but the information we gather will help us create a program to reduce childhood injuries in participating communities and other rural communities in Bangladesh.

Where is the study run from?
The study will be conducted in two villages in Bangladesh. It is a collaboration between the University College London in the UK, Diabetes Association of Bangladesh, and Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB) in Bangladesh; Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Roma Tre University in Italy.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
July 2023 to September 2026

Who is funding the study?
The British Academy (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Prof. Hassan Haghparast Bidgoli, h. h.haghparast-bidgoli@ucl.ac.uk

Study website

Contact information

Prof Hassan Haghparast Bidgoli
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator

30 Guilford Street
London
WC1N 1EH
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0001-6365-2944
Phone	+44 (0)20 8138 7920
Email	h.haghparast-bidgoli@ucl.ac.uk

Study information

Study design	Randomized pilot and feasibility study
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Pilot feasibility
Study setting(s)	Community, Home
Study type	Prevention
Scientific title	Developing and feasibility pilot mHealth messages to prevent childhood unintentional injuries in rural Bangladesh
Study objectives	1. To develop mHealth messages to prevent childhood injuries through applying behavioural theory to formative research. 2. To validate the developed messages in a participatory workshop with parents/caregivers and other stakeholders. 3. To assess feasibility and acceptability of mHealth messages through piloting in two villages in Faridpur district and engagement with parents/carers and other stakeholders. 4. To assess potential effectiveness of the mHealth messages to improve caregivers’ knowledge of injury risk factor and prevention as well as their prevention practices.
Ethics approval(s)	1. Approved 09/12/2024, University College London Research Ethics Committee (Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; +44 (0)2076792000; ethics@ucl.ac.uk), ref: 27763.001 2. Approved 13/05/2024, Ethical Review Committee of the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (122, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh; +880 (0)41060475; dg@birdembd.org), ref: BADAS-ERC/EC/24/25
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Unintentional childhood injuries
Intervention	The intervention is voice or text messages providing information on how to prevent common childhood injuries and what to do if an injury happens. All caregivers of children aged 15 years or younger in two villages will receive these mobile messages for 24 weeks.
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure	Caregivers’ knowledge of childhood injuries’ risk factors and prevention measured using a pilot tested ‘Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP)’ instrument at baseline, and 6 months
Secondary outcome measures	Measured using a pilot tested ‘Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP)’ instrument: 1. Caregivers’ injury prevention practices at baseline, and 6 months 2. Self-reported incidence of childhood unintentional injuries at baseline, and 6 months
Overall study start date	01/07/2023
Completion date	30/09/2026

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Carer
Age group	Adult
Lower age limit	18 Years
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	500
Key inclusion criteria	1. Caregivers/parents of children aged 15 years or younger 2. Household who did not have experience of fatal child injury 3. Owned/had access to a mobile phone
Key exclusion criteria	1. No children aged under 15 years 2. Experience of fatal childhood injury in family
Date of first enrolment	01/08/2025
Date of final enrolment	09/01/2026

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Bangladesh

Study participating centres

Diabetic Association of Bangladesh, Centre for Health Research and Implementation

122, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue
Dhaka
1000
Bangladesh

Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB)

House: B-120, Road:07 New DOHS
Dhaka
1206
Bangladesh

Sponsor information

University College London
University/education

Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
England
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)20 7679 2000
Email	ethics@ucl.ac.uk
Website	https://www.ucl.ac.uk/
"ROR"	https://ror.org/02jx3x895

Funders

Funder type

University/education

British Academy
Private sector organisation / Universities (academic only)

Alternative name(s): BA British Academy, The British Academy, BA
Location: United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date	31/12/2026
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	Yes
IPD sharing plan summary	Available on request
Publication and dissemination plan	Study findings will be disseminated through local community meetings, and through an article in a peer-reviewed journal, and at national and international conferences.
IPD sharing plan	The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available upon request. h.haghparast-bidgoli@ucl.ac.uk The type of data that will be shared: -Anonymous quantitative data collected as part of pre/post evaluation surveys. Dates of availability: -Two years after project competition. Whether consent for data sharing was required and obtained from participants: -Yes. This is obtained from the participants. Comments on data anonymization: -All data will be anonymised after collection. The anonymised dataset will then be made available to the research team and external researchers for analysis. Any ethical or legal restrictions: -None.

Editorial Notes

14/10/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by UCL.