Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Nov 21;18(1):555.
doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-2215-x.

Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Ditte S Linde  1   2   3 , Marianne S Andersen  4 , Julius D Mwaiselage  5 , Rachel Manongi  6 , Susanne K Kjaer  7   8 , Vibeke Rasch  9   10
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Ditte S Linde et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is a major health concern in Tanzania, caused by poor attendance for cervical cancer screening and follow-up of women at risk. Mobile telephone health interventions are proven effective tools to improve health behaviour in African countries. So far, no knowledge exists on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for high-risk (HR) Human Papillomavirus (HPV) during cervical cancer screening.

Methods/design: Connected2Care is a non-blinded, multicentre, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial. Tanzanian women testing positive to HR HPV at inclusion are randomly assigned in an allocation ratio of 1:1 to the SMS intervention or the control group (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary objectives are cost-effectiveness, measured through incremental ratios, and knowledge of cervical cancer by a 16-item true/false scale questionnaire at baseline and follow-up. Barriers against implementing the intervention will be assessed in a mixed-methods sub-population study.

Discussion: This study may provide information on the potential effects, costs, and barriers in implementing an SMS intervention targeting a group of women who are followed up after testing positive for HR HPV and are, therefore, at increased risk of developing cervical cancer. This can guide decision-makers on the effective use of mobile technology in a low-income setting. Trial status: recruiting.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02509702 . Registered on 15 June 2015.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; HPV; Mobile phone; RCT; SMS intervention; Screening; Tanzania; mHealth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) Figure. Schedule of enrolment, intervention, and assessment
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Trial Profile
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Likert scale to measure acceptability of text messages
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stewart W, Christopher PW. World Cancer Report 2014. 2014.
    1. Dartell M, Rasch V, Kahesa C, Mwaiselage J, Ngoma T, Junge J, et al. Human papillomavirus prevalence and type distribution in 3603 HIV-positive and HIV-negative women in the general population of Tanzania: the PROTECT study. Sex Transm Dis. 2012;39:201–8. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e31823b50ad. - DOI - PubMed
    1. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. IARC monographs. Biological agents. Volume 100 B. A review of human carcinogens. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO. http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol100B/mono100B.pdf.
    1. International Agency for Cancer Research. Globocan 2012—Estimated cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide in 2012. Population Fact Sheets [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2015 Oct 28]. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_population.aspx#. cited 28 Oct 2015.
    1. Plotkin M, Besana GV, Yuma S, Kim YM, Kulindwa Y, Kabole F, et al. Integrating HIV testing into cervical cancer screening in Tanzania: an analysis of routine service delivery statistics. BMC Womens Heal. 2014;14:120. doi: 10.1186/1472-6874-14-120. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data