Trial reportMalaria journal2022
Improved adherence to test, treat, and track (T3) malaria strategy among Over-the-Counter Medicine Sellers (OTCMS) through interventions implemented in selected rural communities of Fanteakwa North district, Ghana.
Trial report in Malaria journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Malaria diagnosis practices in formal private drug retail shops in the Ho Municipality, Ghana: a cross-sectional survey.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- PATENT AND PROPRIETARY MEDICINE VENDORS SERVICES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATORY GUIDELINES IN IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA.Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine · 2026Article
- Exploring documentation and reporting practices in malaria tracking: a mixed-methods study among formal drug retail shops in Hohoe Municipal, Ghana.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Adherence to the test, treat and track malaria policy among selected health facilities in Ghana: the clients' perspective.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider-directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in retail medicine outlets: Results of the TESTsmART Trial in western Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider-directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in retail medicine outlets: results of the TESTsmART Trial in western Kenya.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Point-of-care testing in private pharmacy and drug retail settings: a narrative review.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Review
- Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of ultra-sensitive and conventional rapid diagnostic tests for malaria in asymptomatic pregnant women at a tertiary hospital in North-Central Nigeria.Nigerian medical journal : journal of the Nigeria Medical AssociationArticle
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
Abstract
backgroundPrompt diagnosis and treatment of malaria prevents a mild case from developing into severe disease and death. Unfortunately, parasitological testing of febrile children is greater in the public and formal private sector than in the informal private sector where many patients with malaria-like symptoms first seek treatment. This study was aimed at improving implementation of the T3 policy among OTCMS using some interventions that could be scaled-up easily at the national level.
methodsInterventions were evaluated using a two-arm, cluster randomized trial across 8 rural communities (4 clusters per arm), in two adjacent districts of Ghana. A total of 7 OTCMS in the intervention arm and 5 OTCMS in the control arm in the selected communities participated in the study. Five interventions were implemented in the intervention arm only. These were acquisition of subsidized malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, training of OTCMS, supportive visits to OTCMS, community sensitization on malaria, and introduction of malaria surveillance tool. The primary outcome was the proportion of children under 10 years with fever or suspected to have malaria visiting OTCMS and getting tested (using RDT) before treatment. Secondary outcomes included OTCMS adherence to national malaria treatment guidelines and the recommended RDT retail price. Outcomes were measured using mystery client (an adult who pretends to be a real patient) surveys supplemented by a household survey. Proportions were compared using chi-square test or Fisher exact test.
resultsFollowing deployment of interventions, mystery client survey showed that OTCMS' adherence to malaria protocol in the intervention arm increased significantly (p < 0.05) compared to the control arm. Household surveys in the intervention arm showed that caregivers self-treating their children or visiting drug vendors significantly decreased in favour of visits to OTCMS shops for treatment (p < 0.001). End-line malaria testing rate was higher compared with the baseline rate, though not statistically significant (30.8% vs 10.5%; p = 0.1238). OTCMS in the intervention arm also adhered to the subsidized RDT retail price of GHc2.40.
conclusionInterventions targeting OTCMS in rural communities have the potential of improving adherence to the T3 malaria policy and subsequently improving management of uncomplicated malaria in Ghana.
trial registrationISRCTN registry ISRCTN77836926. Registered on 4 November 2019.
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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.