Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35246272›Full record

ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2022

Feasibility and acceptability of a whole-school social-marketing intervention to prevent unintended teenage pregnancies and promote sexual health: evidence for progression from a pilot to a phase III randomised trial in English secondary schools.

R Ponsford, S Bragg, R Meiksin, N Tilouche, L Van Dyck, J Sturgess, E Allen, D Elbourne, A Hadley, M Lohan and 6 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.

R PonsfordDepartment of Public Health, Environments & Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK. Ruth.Ponsford@lshtm.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2612-0249
S BraggDepartment of Education, Practice and Society, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AL, London, UK.
R MeiksinDepartment of Public Health, Environments & Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK.
N TiloucheDepartment of Public Health, Environments & Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK.
L Van DyckClinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
J SturgessClinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
E AllenClinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
D ElbourneClinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
A HadleyTeenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange, University of Bedfordshire, University Square, Luton, LU1 3JU, UK.
M LohanSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Queens University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK.
C H MercerUniversity College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
G J Melendez TorresUniversity of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK.
S MorrisDepartment of Health and Primary Care, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK.
H YoungSchool of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, 1-3 Museum Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BD, UK.
R CampbellSchool of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol, BS8 2PS, UK.
C BonellDepartment of Public Health, Environments & Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK.
University of London · GBLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity College London · GBUniversity of Exeter · GBCardiff University · GBQueen's University Belfast · GBRoyal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · GBUniversity of Bedfordshire · GBUniversity of Bristol · GB

Funding

NIHR 14/184/02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundReducing unintended teenage pregnancy and promoting adolescent sexual health remains a priority in England. Both whole-school and social-marketing interventions are promising approaches to addressing these aims. However, such interventions have not been rigorously trialled in the UK and it is unclear if they are appropriate for delivery in English secondary schools. We developed and pilot trialled Positive Choices, a new whole-school social marketing intervention to address unintended teenage pregnancy and promote sexual health. Our aim was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and trial methods in English secondary schools against pre-defined progression criteria (relating to randomisation, survey follow-up, intervention fidelity and acceptability and linkage to birth/abortion records) prior to carrying out a phase III trial of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

methodsPilot RCT with integral process evaluation involving four intervention and two control schools in south-east England. The intervention comprised a student needs survey; a student/staff-led school health promotion council; a classroom curriculum for year-9 students (aged 13-14); whole-school student-led social-marketing activities; parent information; and a review of local and school-based sexual health services. Baseline surveys were conducted with year 8 (aged 12-13) in June 2018. Follow-up surveys were completed 12 months later. Process evaluation data included audio recording of staff training, surveys of trained staff, staff log books and researcher observations of intervention activities. Survey data from female students were linked to records of births and abortions to assess the feasibility of these constituting a phase III primary outcome.

resultsAll six schools were successfully randomised and retained in the trial. Response rates to the survey were above 80% in both arms at both baseline and follow-up. With the exception of the parent materials, the fidelity target for implementation of essential elements in three out of four schools was achieved. Student surveys indicated 80% acceptability among those who reported awareness of the programme and interviews with staff suggested strong acceptability. Linkage to birth/abortion records was feasible although none occurred among participants.

conclusionsThe criteria for progression to a phase III trial were met. Our data suggest that a whole-school social-marketing approach may be appropriate for topics that are clearly prioritised by schools. A phase III trial of this intervention is now warranted to establish effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Births and terminations are not an appropriate primary outcome measure for such a trial.

trial registrationISRCTN65324176.

Indexed as

Adolescent healthEvaluationSchool interventionSex educationSexual healthTeenage pregnancy

Identifiers

PMID35246272
PMCPMC8895534
OpenAlexW4214824674

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.