Trial reportPloS one2016
Increasing Partner Attendance in Antenatal Care and HIV Testing Services: Comparable Outcomes Using Written versus Verbal Invitations in an Urban Facility-Based Controlled Intervention Trial in Mbeya, Tanzania.
Trial report in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Male involvement interventions influencing maternal reproductive health outcomes: a narrative synthesis using RE-AIM with implications for maternal mortality in Africa.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- Strategies to increase couples HIV testing and counselling in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of HIV Testing Implementation Strategies in Sub-Saharan African Countries.AIDS and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Pathways for HIV Prevention Behaviors Following a Home-Based Couples Intervention for Pregnant Women and Male Partners in Kenya.AIDS and behavior · 2020Trial
- Development and Piloting of a Home-Based Couples Intervention During Pregnancy and Postpartum in Southwestern Kenya.AIDS patient care and STDs · 2018Trial
- Scheduled couple consultations during pregnancy as a lever to increase male involvement in maternal health: results of a qualitative photovoice study in Mozambique.International health · 2025Article
- Navigating norms: a qualitative exploration of factors shaping contraceptive use in Senegal.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Low effective coverage of HIV testing and counselling services during antenatal care in Ethiopia: evidence from the demographic and health survey and service provision assessment.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Efficacy of mobile phone intervention to increase male partner antenatal care attendance for HIV testing in Moshi municipal, Tanzania: a randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Preventing HIV Infection in Pregnant Women in Western Uganda Through a Comprehensive Antenatal Care-Based Intervention: An Implementation Study.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Male engagement guidelines in antenatal care: unintended consequences for pregnant women in Tanzania.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Designing a couple-based relationship strengthening and health enhancing intervention for pregnant women living with HIV and their male partners in Zambia: Interview findings from the target community.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Article
- Article
- Husbands' experience and perception of supporting their wives during childbirth in Tanzania.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
- Factors for late initiation of antenatal care in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Article
- Male partner antenatal clinic attendance is associated with increased uptake of maternal health services and infant BCG immunization: a national survey in Kenya.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Article
- Challenges and motivators for male partner involvement in prenatal care for HIV testing in a tertiary setting in Brazil.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2019Article
- Increasing male engagement in the prevention of vertical transmission of HIV: what works in sub-Saharan Africa?BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2019Article
- Article
- 'Unless you come with your partner you will be sent back home': strategies used to promote male involvement in antenatal care in Southern Tanzania.Global health action · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In many Sub-Saharan African settings male partner involvement in antenatal care (ANC) remains low, although great benefits for maternal and infant health outcomes have been long recognised, in particular regarding the prevention of HIV transmission. Yet there is paucity on evidence regarding the effectiveness of strategies to increase male partner involvement. This controlled intervention trial in Ruanda Health Centre in Mbeya, Tanzania, assessed the effectiveness of invitation letters for male involvement in ANC. Pregnant women approaching ANC without partners received official letters inviting the partner to attend ANC. A control group was instructed to verbally invite partners. Partner attendance was recorded at two subsequent ANC visits. Rates for male partner return, couple voluntary counselling and testing (CVCT), and influencing factors were analysed. From 199 ANC clients in total, 97 were assigned to the invitation letter group; 30 of these (30.9%) returned with their male partners for ANC. In the control group of 102 women, 28 (27.5%) returned with their partner. In both groups CVCT rates among jointly returning couples were 100%. Partner return/CVCT rate was not statistically different in intervention and control group (OR 1.2, p = 0.59). Former partner attendance at ANC during a previous pregnancy was the only factor found to be significantly linked with partner return (p = 0.03). Our study demonstrates that rather simple measures to increase male partner attendance in ANC and CVCT can be effective, with written and verbal invitations having comparable outcomes. In terms of practicability in Sub-Saharan African settings, we recommend systematic coaching of ANC clients on how to verbally invite male partners in the first instance, followed by written invitation letters for partners in case of their non-attendance. Further studies covering both urban and rural settings will be more informative for effective translation into policy.
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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.