There are about 74 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Nepal. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
This is a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of videos on medical students' implicit and explicit attitudes and knowledge related to mental illness in Nepal. Medical students are randomized to one of three conditions: (a) no video, (b) a didactic video based on the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) modules for depression and psychosis; and (c) videos with personal testimonials from mental health service users with depression and psychosis.
Scientific basis: Globally, vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies. The only relevant source of vitamin B12 is animal-source foods and poor gut function may decrease absorption. Vitamin B12 is crucial for normal cell division and differentiation, and necessary for the development and myelination of the central nervous system. Deficiency is also associated with impaired fetal and infant growth. In the proposed study we will measure the effect of daily oral vitamin B12 supplementation to pregnant women on neurodevelopment and growth of their children. We also aim to measure the impact of B12 supplementation on several other outcomes. Study design: Individually randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial in pregnant South Asian women at risk of poor vitamin B12 status. Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio. Study participants and site: 600 pregnant women from early pregnancy. Women will be enrolled as early as possible, but no later than in week 15 of pregnancy. Intervention: Daily administration of 50 µg of vitamin B12 from early pregnancy until 6 months after birth. Comparator: Placebo, identical to the vitamin B12 supplements. Outcomes: Primary: (i) neurodevelopment in children measured at 6 and 12 months of age (ii) growth in children measured by weight and length at 12 months. Secondary: (i) neurodevelopment and cognitive functioning in children at 24 months (ii) gestational age at birth, (iii) fetal and infant growth measured by weight and length at birth, after 1 month and then at 3, 6, 9, and 24 months, (iv) hemoglobin concentration in children and mothers. Relevance for programs and public health: The results from this study can suggest new dietary guidelines for South Asian women that again can lead to improved pregnancy outcomes and neurodevelopment and cognitive functioning in South Asian children.
A six-month RCT conducted within 36 health centres throughout urban and rural Nepal. The purpose of the RCT is to test the effectiveness of a peer comparison intervention at increasing uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) as a percentage of PAFP uptake among clients who receive a safe abortion at a Marie Stopes International Nepal. The total sample size will be ~12,000 safe abortion clients. The primary outcome of interest is LARCs among safe abortion clients at Marie Stopes Centres in Nepal. The secondary outcome is to evaluate the impact of behaviorally designed intervention on the service providers' engagement in discussing measures to increase PAFP LARC uptake among women.
The emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant and extensively-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) have posed a great threat to global TB control and elimination, limiting treatment success rate at worrisome 50% for MDR-TB. Among various factors contributing to the development of drug resistance, low drug exposure is well recognized. To overcome this, either new drugs have to be developed or the dose of currently used therapy be optimized, or both. Fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin and moxifloxacin) and aminoglycosides are important drugs in the MDR-TB treatment regimen. Development of acquired drug resistance to these drugs could complicate and narrow down the available options, and further exacerbate to pre-XDR and XDR-TB. Objective: The main objective of this prospective clinical study is to understand the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin in MDR-TB patients, receiving standard dosage (750-1250mg) based on the body weight and correlate drug exposure, with treatment outcomes. Study design: A prospective pharmacokinetic study Study population: 20 MDR-TB patients Intervention: Patients receive once daily oral dosing of levofloxacin (750-1250mg) based on the body weight, under MDR-TB treatment regimen of Nepal. Main study parameters/end points: The pharmacokinetic parameters(Vd, CL, AUC etc.) of levofloxacin are the primary end points of the study. The Cmax/MIC and AUC0-24h/MIC ratios are the best predictive parameters for efficacy of levofloxacin treatment and will be estimated. Pharmacokinetics will be evaluated in plasma and in oral fluid
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of health education on blood pressure reduction compared to usual care among uncontrolled hypertensive patients of suburban community of Surkhet district of Nepal.
The aim is to conduct a prospective multi-centre international inception cohort study with an enrollment goal of 3,000 TOF patients and 2 year follow-up post-repair. The proposed sample size and methodology will result in statistically powerful results to allow for evidence-based change to current TOF surgical practices.
This feasibility study will be conducted at 4 international sites located in Asia (Dhahran, Nepal); Africa (Blantyre, Malawi and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania) and Latin America (Cochabamba, Bolivia). Each site comprises a cluster (including 3-4 health centers - 1 district hospital - 1 regional referral hospital) that service the population around the site area. Patients presenting at a health care clinic or hospital emergency department with signs and symptoms associated with high and moderate risk of developing AKI will undergo a point of care (POC) test to measure serum creatinine, saliva urea nitrogen dipstick (exclusively in Malawi), and a urine dipstick test for color, protein, glucose, blood and specific gravity. Patients who meet the study inclusion criteria will be approached for consent. Patients enrolled in the study will be followed throughout the health care evaluation and tracked through their course by location i.e. health care center, hospital, and home. Outcomes will be recorded through 6 months following the health care evaluation. The protocol will have an initial observation phase, during which relevant healthcare staff and the research team will be trained to identify patients at moderate or high risk of AKI and use of the point of care (POC) test for serum creatinine, saliva urea nitrogen dipstick (exclusively in Malawi), and urine dipstick test. During this phase patients will be tracked throughout the health care evaluation, however the teleconsultation will not be implemented and no specific guidance for managing the patient will be provided. During the subsequent intervention phase, the research team will interact with the local healthcare providers to and the teleconsultation physician, providing guidance on the management of the patient based on a standardized protocol. Protocols for patient care will be pre-specified, with minor adjustments to meet local requirements.
This study will evaluate whether or not provision of a simple card ("footlength card") that allows identification of low birth weight and/or preterm babies through measurement of the length of a baby's foot, can improve basic newborn care behaviors in rural Nepal.
A growing number of trials have demonstrated treatment effectiveness for people with mental illness (PWMI) by non-specialist providers, such as primary care and community health workers, in low-resource settings. A barrier to scaling up these evidence-based practices is the limited uptake from trainings into service provision and lack of fidelity to evidence-based practices among non-specialists. This arises, in part, from stigma among non-specialists against PWMI. Therefore, interventions are needed to address attitudes among non-specialists. To address this gap, REducing Stigma among HeAlthcare Providers to improvE Mental Health services (RESHAPE-mh), is an intervention for non-specialists in which social contact with PWMI is added to training and supervision programs. A pilot cluster randomized control trial will address primary objectives including trainees' perspectives on perceived acceptability of PWMI's participation in training and supervision, intervention fidelity and contagion, assessment of randomization, and feasibility and psychometric properties of outcome measures in a cluster design. Secondary objectives are change in provider and patient outcomes. The control condition is existing mental health training and supervision for non-specialists delivered through the Programme for Improving Mental Healthcare (PRIME), which includes the mental health Global Action Programme (mhGAP) and psychosocial treatments. The intervention condition will incorporate social contact with PWMI into existing PRIME training and supervision. Participants in the pilot will be the direct beneficiaries of training and supervision (i.e., primary care workers) and indirect beneficiaries (i.e., their patients). Primary care workers' outcomes include knowledge (mhGAP knowledge scale), explicit attitudes (mhGAP attitudes and social distance scales), implicit attitudes (Implicit Association Test), and clinical competence (Enhancing Assessment of Common Therapeutic factors, ENACT) to be assessed pre-training, post-training, and at 4-month follow-up. Patient outcomes include functioning, stigma experiences in accessing care, and depression/alcohol use symptoms to be assessed at initiation of mental health care and 6 months later. The pilot study will assist in modifying the intervention to inform a larger effectiveness trial of RESHAPE to ultimately improve provider attitudes and clinical competence as a mechanism to improve patient outcomes.
In Nepal, investigators are conducting a cohort study to estimate the relationship between signs of periodontal disease in pregnant women and preterm delivery. Within that cohort study, investigators plan to conduct an individually randomized trial of the acceptability and effect chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium chloride, and salt water oral rinses on gingival crevicular fluid and plaque during pregnancy. Women for this pilot trial will be chosen from a subset of the area currently engaged in the larger cohort study, to simplify logistics. The pilot trial will have four arms (three oral rinse arms, and one control group). - Arm 1: Twice daily oral rinse containing chlorhexidine 0.12% w/v (n=25 women with periodontitis - Arm 2: Twice daily oral rinse with cetylpyridinium chloride (n=50; 25 women with/without periodontitis) - Arm 3: Twice daily oral rinse with salt and water (n=50: 25 women with/without periodontitis) - Arm 4: No oral rinse (n=50) To select and enroll these 175 participants, data collectors will use the information they collected during an oral health clinical examination conducted at the time of enrollment into the broader cohort study; this information will be used to classify women by signs of periodontitis. Those selected through this above process will be read an additional consent form; those agreeing to participate will be provided with a supply of their assigned rinse (and instructions on its use and handling/storage), or no rinse. Those in the three rinse groups will be asked to use the provided rinse twice per day after brushing and to save the empty bottles for collection by the health care worker. At the end of this first visit, women will additionally provide a venous blood sample to measure systemic inflammation markers and fluoride. Women receiving the rinse will be visited by study workers periodically to provide more oral rinse and check on their adherence to the rinse. All 175 women will be visited after 12 weeks to undergo a second oral health clinical examination and provide a second set of gingival crevicular fluid and plaque samples, to allow for evaluation of the effect of each of the oral rinses as compared to the normal physiological changes in gingival inflammation and biofilm composition during the course of pregnancy. At this final visit, the women in the three rinse arms will also answer a short questionnaire to gather feedback on acceptability and adherence to the oral rinse.