Nurse-led palliative care intervention for heart failure patients in Uganda

A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-led outpatient palliative care intervention for people with heart failure in Uganda in terms of patient-reported outcomes

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN77379187

Enrollment

154

Registered

2025-06-27

Start date

2025-08-20

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-11-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Heart failure Circulatory System

Interventions

Randomisation will be a 1:1 allocation ratio, such that each participant has a 50% chance of receiving the intervention or usual care. We will use block randomisation and vary block sizes of 4, 6, 8,

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Adults (aged at least 18 years) of age receiving tertiary care with a confirmed heart failure diagnosis by a cardiologist. 2. Stage III and IV using the NYHA (based on clinical judgement by cardiologist. Cardiologists will identify patients who meet criteria if staging is not documented in the patient records 3. Able to communicate in English, Luganda or Swahili (common languages spoken in Uganda) 4. Able to give informed consent after a careful assessment by the cardiologists 5. Have the cognitive ability to make a decision by self to participate in the study. 6. Willing to be randomised as stated in the information sheet and consent form 7. Within a 30 km catchment area or radius for follow-up and logistics (through self-report)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Unable to give informed consent due to cognitive problems 2. Outside 30 km catchment area (through self-report)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Palliative care outcome measured using the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) Integrated African Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IAPOS) at baseline (time 0), month 2 (time 1), and month 4 (time 2)	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Physical performance status measured using the Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Scale (AKPS) at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 2. Depression measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at baseline (time 0) and month 4 (time 1) 3. Quality of life measured using the WHO-QoL BREF at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 4. Client Service Receipt assessed using the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRI) at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 5. Number of admissions/readmissions will be recorded at baseline (time 0) and month 4 (time 1) 6. Medication adherence/pill count: at baseline (time 0) the researchers will record the tablets patients take for heart failure and at month 4 (time 1) they will ask about any missed doses for the prescribed heart failure medication	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Physical performance status measured using the Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Scale (AKPS) at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 2. Depression measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at baseline (time 0) and month 4 (time 1) 3. Quality of life measured using the WHO-QoL BREF at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 4. Client Service Receipt assessed using the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRI) at baseline (time 0), and month 4 (time 1) 5. Number of admissions/readmissions will be recorded at baseline (time 0) and month 4 (time 1) 6. Medication adherence/pill count: at baseline (time 0) the researchers will record the tablets patients take for heart failure and at month 4 (time 1) they will ask about any missed doses for the prescribed heart failure medication

—

Countries

Uganda

Contacts

Public ContactEve Namisango

eve.namisango@africanpalliativecare.org+256 (0)312264978

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026