Clinical Research Directory

Telemedicine-Based Behavioral Intervention to Improve Self-Care Among Hypertensive Patients

The goal of this quasi-experimental clinical study is to learn whether a telemedicine-based behavioral intervention can improve self-care practices among adult patients with hypertension receiving care at teaching hospitals in Northwest Amhara. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does a telemedicine-based intervention improve self-care practices among hypertensive patients? * Does the intervention improve medication adherence among hypertensive patients? * Does the intervention increase patients' knowledge about hypertension? * Does the intervention reduce emergency hospital admissions among hypertensive patients? We will compare patients who receive telemedicine-based counseling with patients who receive usual care to see if the intervention improves self-care, medication adherence, knowledge, and reduces emergency admissions. Participants will: * Receive 10-15-minute telephone counseling sessions every two weeks for three months (intervention group only) * Receive education on blood pressure monitoring, medication adherence, diet, physical activity, and stress management (intervention group only) * Continue routine hypertension care at the hospital (both groups)

Measles Vaccination at Health System Contacts

In addition to protecting against measles infection, measles vaccine (MV) strengthens the individual's ability to combat infections in general - MV has beneficial non-specific effects (NSE) lowering the risk of death and admissions by around 30%. In Guinea-Bissau 30% of children do not receive a routine MV scheduled at 9 months of age, putting both the individual child's health and measles eradication at risk. The coverage of a second dose of MV, which was added to the Bissau-Guinean vaccination programme in 2022, is even lower. WHO recommends vaccination at health system contacts, including those for curative services. At the paediatric ward of the national hospital in Guinea-Bissau, there are more than 2600 yearly contacts with measles-un or under-vaccinated children aged 9-59 months, but no vaccines are given. In a randomised controlled trial, we will assess the effect of providing MV vs placebo to 5400 children at hospital contacts (at discharge or after an out-patient consultation) to test the hypothesis that MV reduces the risk of admission or death (composite outcome) by 25% over the subsequent 6 months.