Evaluation of an Information Management and Communication System for Population-wide Point-of-Care Infant Sickle Cell Disease Screening (SMICS)

May 20, 2026 updated by: Makerere University
A cluster randomized trial (CRT) of the novel sickle cell disease (SCD), M-health based SCD Information Management and Communication system SIMCS vs routine new born screening strategy in health care centres in Uganda to evaluate impact on access screening, coordination of care and clinical outcomes

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

We will conduct a cluster randomized trial (CRT) of the novel SCD SIMCS and utilize a logical framework of measurable indicators of barriers, utilization, mediating factors, and clinical outcomes of SCD screening and care to evaluate its impact. We will randomize health facilities rather than individual patients because it would be impossible to avoid contamination if we randomized individuals. This design is ideal for evaluating the effectiveness of systems level interventions.

Study procedures Trial Intervention. SCD SIMCS APP, which is an AI-enhanced mobile platform that captures, interprets and relays results of point of care tests for SCD to health care providers and to a centralised public data server at the Uganda Ministry of Health. The SCD SIMCS app prototype consists of four modules: (1) ID module - captures child's demographic and biometric data and builds a printable QR-code; (2) Assay module - captures HemoTypeSCTM and the Sickle Scan TM test image, interprets, and transmits results to the CPHL data centre; (3) Education module - stores and plays back short educational videos for pre- and post-screening counselling; (4) SCD e-Passport module - entry and display of child's longitudinal salient clinical information.

Baseline assessment; following stratified purposive sampling and consent from community leaders, Control and Experimental HCs will undergo baseline evaluation with regards to current resources and childcare visit workflows and the availability of the data sources and measurable indicators of interest. A baseline assessment of resources, workflows, and routine source data collection systems at the centres will facilitate implementation planning for the proposed SCD SIMCS and accurate measurement of its impact on the HCs.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

24000

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Uganda
      • Jinja, Uganda
        • Recruiting
        • Nalufenya Childrens
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ruth Namazzi
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Nelson Sewankambo

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Providers of child health and maternity services at selected hospitals Infants born or attending child health and maternity services at selected hospitals . Infants are the targeted age-group in this study because this is the ideal age to screen for SCD and prevent complications and mortality that generally occurs early, by 5 years old. The infants will be recruited at birth or at vaccination visits

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Decline of inability to provide informed consent

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

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Traditional centralised testing to point of care testing
Routine new born screening strategy in health care centres in Uganda
Other: Sickle Cell Disease screening information management and communication system
Mobile Health information managment system
Active Comparator: Information management and communication system
Mobile Information Managment system
Other: Sickle Cell Disease screening information management and communication system
Mobile Health information managment system

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Improved number and timeliness of refferal of infants with sickle cell disease for care
Time Frame: 12 months
proportion with positive sickle cell disease screen recievign conformatory SCD test,penicillin , hydroxyurea
12 months
Ajusted Mortality Rate of children with sickle cell disease
Time Frame: 18 months
Evaluate the impact of the SCD SIMCS on access to screening.
18 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Makerere University

Collaborators

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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 (Actual)

March 25, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 20, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Mak-SOMREC-2025-2124

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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