Nurse-Led, Symptom-Based Screening of Household Child Contacts of Tuberculosis Index Cases
Condition: Tuberculosis
MeSH terms: Tuberculosis
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      To assess implementation of a nurse-led, symptom-based screening program in local,
      decentralized clinics for tuberculosis (TB) screening of child contacts less than 5 years old
      who were exposed to tuberculosis in the home. This will allow nurses in decentralized clinics
      to either start IPT for those asymptomatic patients and refer symptomatic patients for
      evaluation of TB disease and possible antituberculous therapy (ATT).
    

Detailed description: 
      Retrospective review of routine program data for child contacts less than five years of adult
      TB index cases who are receiving TB care at local, decentralized clinics in the Matlosana
      district of Northwest Province will be assessed. 16 clinics will be stratified and randomized
      in 1:1 fashion to either TST-based screening, the current standard of care, or symptom-based
      screening, the newly recommended standard of care in South Africa. Those who are TST positive
      in the TST-based group and those who are symptomatic in the symptom-based group will be
      referred to Klerkdorp Hospital for further evaluation of tuberculosis. Nurses in the
      decentralized clinics will initiate those who are TST negative or asymptomatic on IPT. Their
      clinical course will be monitored throughout treatment and adherence to therapy measured. The
      investigators will compare clinic-level outcomes including percentage of patients initiated
      on, adherent to, and completing IPT.
    

Intervention name(s): Symptom -based Screening(Child Contacts); Clinical based Decisions
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Aim 1: Determine the number of child contacts per adult index case of tuberculosis to assess quality of contact tracing.
Aim 2: Determine the percentage of child contacts initiated on IPT or antituberculous therapy (ATT) and compare between intervention (symptom-based, nurse-led initiation of IPT) vs control clinics (TST-based screening with referral to hospital, current standard of care).
Aim 3: Compare outcomes of children initiated on IPT between both groups including: completion of therapy, discontinuation due to side effects, lost to follow up, and adherence while on therapy.; the child is symptomatic, they will be referred to the hospital for further evaluation of TB disease including both chest X-ray and testing of either sputum or swallowed sputum. If the child is asymptomatic, the TB nurse at the local clinic will initiate them on weight-appropriate dosing of IPT
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: We propose a cluster randomized trial to be conducted in 16 decentralized care clinics with existing TB services that will measure the implementation of symptom-based, nurse-led initiation of IPT compared to the current standard of care with TST-based referral to a pediatricians at the district hospital. A baseline assessment of clinic records and procedures will inform clinic stratification prior to randomization. Clinics will be stratified by size (number of patients seen per month) and TB case notifications. The clinics will then be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the intervention or the current standard of care. Given the intervention will be carried out by a clinic in its entirety, neither the provider nor the patient will be blinded to the study procedure. No additional staff will be provided to the clinics to assist in this process as we wish to evaluate the implementation of IPT for child contacts under 5 years old in a real world, resource-limited setting.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention