Trial reportPloS one2015
A Cluster Randomised Trial Introducing Rapid Diagnostic Tests into Registered Drug Shops in Uganda: Impact on Appropriate Treatment of Malaria.
Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01194557 (Introducing Rapid Diagnostic Tests Into the Private Health Sector in Uganda), which is not on this map. Cited by 65 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Introducing Rapid Diagnostic Tests Into the Private Health Sector in Uganda: a Randomised Trial Among Registered Drug Shops to Evaluate Impact on Antimalarial Drug Use
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Implementation determinants of rapid diagnostic tests for fever management in sub-Saharan Africa: a mixed-studies systematic review.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Primary health care roles of community pharmacists in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed methods systematic review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Adding rapid diagnostic tests to community-based programmes for treating malaria.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of point-of-care tests in community pharmacies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- In-vitro diagnostic point-of-care tests in paediatric ambulatory care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Use of malaria RDTs in various health contexts across sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2017Pooled it
- Introducing malaria rapid diagnostic tests in private medicine retail outlets: A systematic literature review.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Public stewardship of private for-profit healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Health workers' compliance to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to guide malaria treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2016Pooled it
- Subsidise the test, the treatment or both? Results of an individually randomised controlled trial of the management of suspected malaria fevers in the retail sector in western Kenya.BMJ global health · 2020Trial
- Expanding access to parasite-based malaria diagnosis through retail drug shops in Tanzania: evidence from a randomized trial and implications for treatment.Malaria journal · 2017Trial
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of introducing malaria diagnostic testing in drug shops: A cluster-randomised trial in Uganda.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Evaluation of SMS reminder messages for altering treatment adherence and health seeking perceptions among malaria care-seekers in Nigeria.Health policy and planning · 2016Trial
- Introducing rapid diagnostic tests for malaria into registered drug shops in Uganda: lessons learned and policy implications.Malaria journal · 2015Trial
- Facility readiness and determinants of malaria test-before-treat implementation in public health facilities in Kaduna and Kano States, Nigeria.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- The accuracy of recording malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) results in public health facilities in Benin; results from the MaCRA project.Malaria journal · 2026Observational
- Accuracy of recording of malaria rapid diagnostic test results in Uganda.Malaria journal · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInappropriate treatment of malaria is widely reported particularly in areas where there is poor access to health facilities and self-treatment of fevers with anti-malarial drugs bought in shops is the most common form of care-seeking. The main objective of the study was to examine the impact of introducing rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (mRDTs) in registered drug shops in Uganda, with the aim to increase appropriate treatment of malaria with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in patients seeking treatment for fever in drug shops.
methodsA cluster-randomized trial of introducing mRDTs in registered drug shops was implemented in 20 geographical clusters of drug shops in Mukono district, central Uganda. Ten clusters were randomly allocated to the intervention (diagnostic confirmation of malaria by mRDT followed by ACT) and ten clusters to the control arm (presumptive treatment of fevers with ACT). Treatment decisions by providers were validated by microscopy on a reference blood slide collected at the time of consultation. The primary outcome was the proportion of febrile patients receiving appropriate treatment with ACT defined as: malaria patients with microscopically-confirmed presence of parasites in a peripheral blood smear receiving ACT or rectal artesunate, and patients with no malaria parasites not given ACT.
findingsA total of 15,517 eligible patients (8672 intervention and 6845 control) received treatment for fever between January-December 2011. The proportion of febrile patients who received appropriate ACT treatment was 72·9% versus 33·7% in the control arm; a difference of 36·1% (95% CI: 21·3 - 50·9), p<0·001. The majority of patients with fever in the intervention arm accepted to purchase an mRDT (97·8%), of whom 58·5% tested mRDT-positive. Drug shop vendors adhered to the mRDT results, reducing over-treatment of malaria by 72·6% (95% CI: 46·7- 98·4), p<0·001) compared to drug shop vendors using presumptive diagnosis (control arm).
conclusionDiagnostic testing with mRDTs compared to presumptive treatment of fevers implemented in registered drug shops substantially improved appropriate treatment of malaria with ACT.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01194557.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.