Clinical trials

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains an ongoing public health and socioeconomic challenge worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Vietnam. Despite improvements in healthcare, TB still causes significant problems to those infected, especially within marginalized populations, including financial hardship, stigma, and mental health issues. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a psycho-socioeconomic support intervention intended to improve treatment outcomes and reduce financial hardship faced by TB-affected households in Vietnam, measured through catastrophic costs. Methods: A hybrid type II effectiveness implementation study using a randomized control trial study design will be employed to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the intervention. The study will be conducted in 12 Vietnamese provinces across Northern, Central, and Southern regions, targeting areas with lower TB treatment success rates. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a control group, which will receive standard care, or an intervention group, which will receive cash transfers conditioned on participation in TB Club peer-support meetings. Data will be collected on the individual, household and district levels. Individual outcomes will include treatment success, health-related quality of life, TB-related stigma, and anxiety and depression. Household outcomes will include catastrophic cost incurrence, changes in financial capital and livelihoods, and TB service and universal health coverage (UHC) uptake. Implementation outcomes, by district, will include fidelity, satisfaction, participation, acceptability, and quality. Hypothesis: The study hypothesizes that providing financial and enhanced psychosocial support to people with TB will improve their treatment success and reduce the financial burden on TB-affected households.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) infection is a key driver of the TB pandemic, with over 10.6 million people fell ill with TB disease in 2022. About one-quarter of the global population is estimated to be infected with TB bacteria. Around 5-10% of people with TB infection will develop active and contagious TB disease, which could be largely avoided if TB infection is identified and given effective preventative treatment, before progression to active disease. The long treatment of TB infection with regimens lasting from three to nine months is a significant barrier to treatment completion in individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of TB infection. Adapting a shorter regimen than the current regimens could lead to a higher treatment completion rate and increased uptake of preventative therapy for TB, as well as reduced side effects. Methods and analysis: An open-label, randomized clinical trial (1:1) will be performed in two study sites in Ha Noi, Vietnam (Vietnam National Lung Hospital and Ha Noi Lung Hospital). Adult household contacts (n=350) of people with new, bacteriologically-confirmed, pulmonary, drug-susceptible TB who initiate treatment will be invited to participate. Aim: To compare the TB preventive therapy completion rates and adverse event incidence between a new one-month regimen (1HP) versus the current three-month regimen (3HR)\*. \*1HP= one month of daily isoniazid (H/INH) and rifapentine (P/RPT) 3HR= three months of daily isoniazid (H/INH) and rifampicin (R/RIF)