Trial reportGlobal health, science and practice2021
Impact of Solar Light and Electricity on the Quality and Timeliness of Maternity Care: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster-Randomized Trial in Uganda.
Trial report in Global health, science and practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of reliable light and electricity on job satisfaction among maternity health workers in Uganda: A cluster randomized trial.Human resources for health · 2022Trial
- Strengthening Rural Primary Healthcare for Climate Resilience in Zambia: An Equity-Centered Approach.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Article
- Reliable electricity to advance quality health care in low-resource settings.The Lancet. Global health · 2026Review
- Digitalizing Uganda's health supply chain system through an integrated solar-powered infrastructure at hard-to-reach health facilities.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Applications and implementation considerations for stepped-wedge designs in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Review
- Obstetrics and gynecology devices designed for low- and middle-income countries: A narrative review.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Review
- Timeliness of Delivery Care and Maternal and Neonatal Health Outcomes in Private Facilities in Masaka Area, Uganda: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Maternal and child health journal · 2023Article
- A Call to Action: Reinvigorating Interest and Investments in Health Infrastructure.Global health, science and practice · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe evaluated the impact of solar light installation in Ugandan maternity facilities on implementation processes, reliability of light, and quality of intrapartum care.
methodsWe conducted a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial of the We Care Solar Suitcase, a complete solar electric system providing lighting and power for charging phones and small medical devices, in 30 rural Ugandan maternity facilities with unreliable lighting. Facilities were randomly assigned to receive the intervention in the first or second sequence in a 1:1 ratio. We collected data from June 2018 to April 2019. The intervention was installed in September 2018 (first sequence) and in December 2018 (second sequence). The primary effectiveness outcomes were a 20-item and a 36-item index of quality of intrapartum care, a 6-item index of delays in care provision, and the percentage of deliveries with bright light, satisfactory light, and adequate light.
resultsWe observed 1,118 births across 30 facilities. The intervention was successfully installed in 100% of facilities. After installation, the intervention was used in 83% of nighttime deliveries. Before the intervention, providers on average performed 42% of essential care actions and accumulated 76 minutes of delays during nighttime deliveries. After installation, quality increased by 4 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI]=1,8) and delays in care decreased by 10 minutes (95% CI=-16,-3), with the largest impacts on infection control, prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, and newborn care practices. One year after the end of the trial, 90% of facilities had LED lights in operation and 60% of facilities had all components in operation.
conclusionsReliable light is an important driver of timely and adequate health care. Policy makers should invest in renewable energy systems for health facilities; however, even when reliable lighting is present, quality of care may remain low without a broader approach to quality improvements.
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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.