Daniel Semakula1, Allen Nsangi1, Andrew D Oxman2, Matt Oxman3, Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren3, Sarah Rosenbaum3, Angela Morelli4, Claire Glenton3, Simon Lewin5, Margaret Kaseje6, Iain Chalmers7, Atle Fretheim8, Doris Tove Kristoffersen3, Nelson K Sewankambo9. 1. College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 2. Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: oxman@online.no. 3. Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. 4. Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Infodesignlab, Oslo, Norway. 5. Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa. 6. Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kisumu, Kenya. 7. James Lind Initiative, Oxford, UK. 8. Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 9. College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: As part of the Informed Health Choices project, we developed a podcast called The Health Choices Programme to help improve the ability of people to assess claims about the benefits and harms of treatments. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the podcast on the ability of parents of primary school children in Uganda to assess claims about the effects of treatments. METHODS: We did this randomised controlled trial in central Uganda. We recruited parents of children aged 10-12 years who were in their fifth year of school at 35 schools that were participating in a linked trial of the Informed Health Choices primary school resources. The parents were randomly allocated (1:1), via a web-based random number generator with block sizes of four and six, to listen to either the Informed Health Choices podcast (intervention group) or typical public service announcements about health issues (control group). Randomisation was stratified by parents' highest level of formal education attained (primary school, secondary school, or tertiary education) and the allocation of their children's school in the trial of the primary school resources (intervention vs control). The primary outcome, measured after listening to the entire podcast, was the mean score and the proportion of parents with passing scores on a test with two multiple choice questions for each of nine key concepts essential to assessing claims about treatments (18 questions in total). We did intention-to-treat analyses. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry, number PACTR201606001676150. FINDINGS:We recruited parents between July 21, 2016, and Oct 7, 2016. We randomly assigned 675 parents to the podcast group (n=334) or the public service announcement group (n=341); 561 (83%) participants completed follow-up. The mean score for parents in the podcast group was 67·8% (SD 19·6) compared with 52·4% (17·6) in the control group (adjusted mean difference 15·5%, 95% CI 12·5-18·6; p<0·0001). In the podcast group, 203 (71%) of 288 parents had a predetermined passing score (≥11 of 18 correct answers) compared with 103 (38%) of 273 parents in the control group (adjusted difference 34%, 95% CI 26-41; p<0·0001). No adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: Listening to the Informed Health Choices podcast led to a large improvement in the ability of parents to assess claims about the effects of treatments. Future studies should assess the long-term effects of use of the podcast, the effects on actual health choices and outcomes, and how transferable our findings are to other countries. FUNDING: Research Council of Norway.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: As part of the Informed Health Choices project, we developed a podcast called The Health Choices Programme to help improve the ability of people to assess claims about the benefits and harms of treatments. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the podcast on the ability of parents of primary school children in Uganda to assess claims about the effects of treatments. METHODS: We did this randomised controlled trial in central Uganda. We recruited parents of children aged 10-12 years who were in their fifth year of school at 35 schools that were participating in a linked trial of the Informed Health Choices primary school resources. The parents were randomly allocated (1:1), via a web-based random number generator with block sizes of four and six, to listen to either the Informed Health Choices podcast (intervention group) or typical public service announcements about health issues (control group). Randomisation was stratified by parents' highest level of formal education attained (primary school, secondary school, or tertiary education) and the allocation of their children's school in the trial of the primary school resources (intervention vs control). The primary outcome, measured after listening to the entire podcast, was the mean score and the proportion of parents with passing scores on a test with two multiple choice questions for each of nine key concepts essential to assessing claims about treatments (18 questions in total). We did intention-to-treat analyses. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry, number PACTR201606001676150. FINDINGS: We recruited parents between July 21, 2016, and Oct 7, 2016. We randomly assigned 675 parents to the podcast group (n=334) or the public service announcement group (n=341); 561 (83%) participants completed follow-up. The mean score for parents in the podcast group was 67·8% (SD 19·6) compared with 52·4% (17·6) in the control group (adjusted mean difference 15·5%, 95% CI 12·5-18·6; p<0·0001). In the podcast group, 203 (71%) of 288 parents had a predetermined passing score (≥11 of 18 correct answers) compared with 103 (38%) of 273 parents in the control group (adjusted difference 34%, 95% CI 26-41; p<0·0001). No adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: Listening to the Informed Health Choices podcast led to a large improvement in the ability of parents to assess claims about the effects of treatments. Future studies should assess the long-term effects of use of the podcast, the effects on actual health choices and outcomes, and how transferable our findings are to other countries. FUNDING: Research Council of Norway.
Authors: John C Castle; Iain Chalmers; Patricia Atkinson; Douglas Badenoch; Andrew D Oxman; Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren; Lena Nordheim; L Kendall Krause; Lisa M Schwartz; Steven Woloshin; Amanda Burls; Paola Mosconi; Tammy Hoffmann; Leila Cusack; Loai Albarqouni; Paul Glasziou Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-07-24 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Iain Chalmers; Patricia Atkinson; Douglas Badenoch; Paul Glasziou; Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren; Andy Oxman; Mike Clarke Journal: Res Involv Engagem Date: 2019-02-04
Authors: Allen Nsangi; Daniel Semakula; Claire Glenton; Simon Lewin; Andrew D Oxman; Matt Oxman; Sarah Rosenbaum; Astrid Dahlgren; Laetitia Nyirazinyoye; Margaret Kaseje; Christopher James Rose; Atle Fretheim; Nelson K Sewankambo Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2019-09-11 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Daniel Semakula; Allen Nsangi; Andrew D Oxman; Matt Oxman; Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren; Sarah Rosenbaum; Angela Morelli; Claire Glenton; Simon Lewin; Laetitia Nyirazinyoye; Margaret Kaseje; Iain Chalmers; Atle Fretheim; Christopher J Rose; Nelson K Sewankambo Journal: Trials Date: 2020-02-14 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: Allen Nsangi; Daniel Semakula; Sarah E Rosenbaum; Andrew David Oxman; Matt Oxman; Angela Morelli; Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren; Margaret Kaseje; Michael Mugisha; Anne-Marie Uwitonze; Claire Glenton; Simon Lewin; Atle Fretheim; Nelson Kaulukusi Sewankambo Journal: Pilot Feasibility Stud Date: 2020-02-10
Authors: Allen Nsangi; Daniel Semakula; Andrew D Oxman; Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren; Matt Oxman; Sarah Rosenbaum; Angela Morelli; Claire Glenton; Simon Lewin; Margaret Kaseje; Iain Chalmers; Atle Fretheim; Yunpeng Ding; Nelson K Sewankambo Journal: Trials Date: 2020-01-06 Impact factor: 2.279