None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Youth who have had Rheumatic Fever (RF) need monthly penicillin injections to prevent Rheumatic Heart Diseases (RHD). About 20 % of 14- 21 year olds on the Waikato RF registry are non-compliant; past efforts to increase compliance have been unsuccessful. This study uses a multiple baseline research design to provide a test of an incentivized intervention (specifically mobile phone with monthly top-ups for data, text and calling) for increased compliance, especially for youth who are intermittent with their injections or have stopped receiving them. The outcome of this study will include measures of the efficacy and cost effectiveness in terms of number of increased injections and incremental cost for each extra injection.
Interventions
Type of intervention: Receipt of mobile phone and monthly top-ups (money provided for data, phone calls, and texts).
Description: Data was collected by district nurses for a 3-month period prior to the start of the intervention (baseline) and then continued for 12 months post-intervention. Each injection period, nurses logged the frequency of calls/texts and visits along with date of injection scheduled and received. At the start of the intervention, district nurses provided the mobile phone.
Type of intervention: Receipt of mobile phone and monthly top-ups (money provided for data, phone calls, and texts). Description: Data was collected by district nurses for a 3-month period prior to the start of the intervention (baseline) and then continued for 12 months post-intervention. Each injection period, nurses logged the frequency of calls/texts and visits along with date of injection scheduled and received. At the start of the intervention, district nurses provided the mobile phone. During the study patients made appointments and received monthly injections as usual (i.e., there was no change for patients other than receiving the incentive). This included contacting their district nurse to arrange appointment time and location to administer injection. When patients didn't arrange a visit, nurses contacted patients via text or call to arrange a visit; this was also usual and customary practice. Nurses provided the monthly top-up when the injection was received. The top up was worth $20 and was directly provided by the nurse via an activation code. The top-ups were provided for 14 months (including two-months post final data collection). The phone was unlocked and given to the patients at the conclusion of the data collection.
Sponsors
John Oetzel
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
14 Years to 21 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Registered patient on the Waikato District Health Board 's registry for patients with rheumatic fever
Exclusion criteria
None other than age
Outcome results
None listed