Innovative Approaches to Tuberculosis Control

August 15, 2017 updated by: Johns Hopkins University

A Cluster Randomized Trial of DOTS vs DOTS Plus Active Case Finding

This study is designed as a cluster-randomized trial. The cluster unit is at the community level. Communities will be randomized to 1 of 2 study arms: DOTS+ACF or DOTS. Communities in the DOTS+ACF arm will receive door-to-door symptom screening of the entire population by health care workers between 2 and 4 times over a 9-month period. Those communities in the DOTS-arm will receive the current standard of care in those communities (PCF). All study communities will be receiving between 4 and 6 visits by community health workers annually as part of a program to assess and follow-up illnesses in each household. Households with ill residents will be visited more often. The intervention for this study is simply adding 3 to 5 simple questions to the current protocol. For subjects responding positively to these questions, results will be returned to the subject at their home and routine, standard of care follow-up diagnostic and treatment algorithms will be followed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Despite free ARV drugs and free TB treatment, and an expanding DOTS program, TB rates have not diminished in this city overall (29), suggesting that DOTS alone will not be sufficient to turn the tide. Nevertheless, an elemental ACF strategy did appear to work well in this city. A prior International Collaborations in Infectious Disease Research (ICIDR), in one area of Rio de Janeiro, evaluated the use of the WHO's directly observed therapy, short course (DOTS) strategy versus an enhanced DOTS strategy (DOTS-A), which included household contact investigation as a means of identifying cases. A statistically significant reduction in incidence rates between DOTS versus DOTS-A communities was seen from 2000 to 2002 (Figure 2), suggesting that ACF strategies can be instrumental in reducing incidence rates if subjects are detected and treated. Treatment completion rates among new TB cases were not significantly different statistically in the 2 study arms, however treatment completion rates overall increased from 68% to 77% over the course of the study. Overall, the DOTS communities exhibited little change (+7%) in TB incidence over the 5-year period, while DOTS-A communities showed a combined decrease (-14%) (P<0.05). The difference suggests that a large scale ACF campaign at a more intensive level (ie, door-to-door case finding) could have a significant impact on long-term TB incidence in a community.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

1000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
        • The Health Department of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Residents of AP3.1 and AP 5.3 in Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All residents of the study communities will be eligible to be surveyed at their homes, regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To compare TB incidence in communities randomized to DOTS+ACF and DOTS alone over the 18-month period following ACF campaign.
Time Frame: 18 months following invetervention
18 months following invetervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To compare case notification rates of TB in the 2 arms of the study during the ACF campaign.
Time Frame: During the intervention
During the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jonathan Golub, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 10, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

May 11, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 18, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 15, 2017

Last Verified

August 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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