Impact evaluation of a cash transfer pilot program in the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: to determine whether distribution of cash during pregnancy and infancy improves the nutritional status of mothers and young children.
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN83330970 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN83330970 |
| ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT) | Nil known |
| Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) | Nil known |
| Protocol serial number | Nil known |
| Sponsor | Research Institute for Development [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement] (IRD) (France) |
| Funders | The World Bank (USA), UNICEF (Togo), Research Institute for Development [Institut de Recherche pour le Développement] (IRD) (France) |
- Submission date
- 12/05/2014
- Registration date
- 09/09/2014
- Last edited
- 26/01/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
The cash transfer program is tried by the PdC (Projet de Développement Communautaire), Government of Togo, in five districts of the Kara and Savanes regions in Togo. This program will provide cash to women during the first 1000 days of pregnancy, lactation and the childs first 2 years including attending prenatal visits, attending nutrition, health and hygiene education sessions, birth registration and children schooling. The expected result of the program is to improve growth of the baby during pregnancy and early childhood, and improve childrens well-being and social protection. Our aim is to see if the giving cash to women have an impact on childrens growth, well-being and social protection.
Who can participate?
Pregnant/lactating women and infants/young children under 2 years of age can take part.
What does the study involve?
Women and children will be randomly allocated to one of two groups:
Group A (control group): women and children attend education sessions
Group B (intervention): in addition to the education sessions, women receive a cash transfer worth 5000 FCFA (about 8 euros) per month over a maximum of 30 months (about 1000 days).
The children and their mothers will be seen right before the program starts (baseline) and at the end of the program. Women will have to answer questions about what happened during their pregnancy, what they eat, their knowledge of nutrition, hygiene and health, their habits, as well as questions about their childs health and nutrition. The height and weight of both mothers and children will be measured.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants will benefit from the intervention which is expected to promote better nutrition for children and better health monitoring during and after pregnancy. This should result in a reduction of illness and growth retardation in children. The whole community will also benefit from the program since the results of the study will be used to extend the program to other areas in Togo. The study does not present any risk for participants, as only questionnaires and painless and non-invasive measurements will be taken. There should be no side effects .
Where is the study run from?
The program is set up in 162 villages in five districts of the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: Dankpen, Keran, Doufelgou, Oti, Kpendjal.
When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in June 2014 and will last 2 years.
Who is funding the study?
1. The World Bank (USA)
2. UNICEF (USA)
3. Research Institute for Development (France)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Mathilde Savy
mathilde.savy@ird.fr
Contact information
Scientific
IRD-LARTES
Camp Jérémy
Dakar
BP206
Senegal
| mathilde.savy@ird.fr |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Two-year cluster-randomised controlled trial, with repeated cross-sectional surveys (baseline and endline) |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Impact evaluation of a cash transfer pilot program in the Kara and Savanes regions, Togo: a randomised controlled trial to determine whether cash transfers during the first 1,000 days from conception though to infancy improve the nutritional status of mothers and young children |
| Study objectives | It is hypothesised that the cash transfers during the first 1,000 days (from conception to the child's first 2 years) will optimize growth in utero and during infancy and early childhood. The null hypothesis is that there will be no difference in nutritional indicators between treatment groups; this may arise if the value of the transfer is insufficient or if the money received is not used properly. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Comité de Bioéthique pour la Recherche en Santé, Ministère de la Santé, Lomé, Togo [Bioethics Committee for Research in Health, Health Ministry of Lomé, Togo]; 28/03/2014 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Growth retardation |
| Intervention | 1. Group A (control group): women and children attend education sessions 2. Group B (intervention): in addition to education sessions, women receive a cash transfer worth 5000 FCFA (~8 euros) per month over a maximum of 30 months (~1000 days) |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Children's stature after 2 years of intervention, expressed in Height-for-Age Z score |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
Current secondary outcome measures as of 28/08/2020: |
| Completion date | 30/06/2016 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Upper age limit | 59 Months |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 4208 |
| Total final enrolment | 4689 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Children and their mothers willing to participate in the study, living in the villages which have been randomly selected as the treatment or control group. There are two stages to the trial: 1. Cash transfers: Pregnant women and their children up until the child is 24 months old 2. Evaluation: 6-59 month old children and their mothers that have taken part in the trial having received cash transfers and education sessions (treatment group) or as controls (education sessions only) |
| Key exclusion criteria | Children and mothers having a mental or physical handicap that could affect growth and well-being. |
| Date of first enrolment | 17/05/2014 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/06/2016 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- France
- Togo
Study participating centre
Montpellier
34394
France
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a publically available repository. All data files are available from the Zenodo repository: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3925899 (https://zenodo.org/record/3925899#.XvzMkufgphG) and no accession number is required for access. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 17/11/2020 | 26/01/2021 | Yes | No |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
| Protocol file | 01/02/2014 | 04/09/2020 | No | No |
Additional files
- ISRCTN83330970_PROTOCOL_01Feb2014.pdf
- uploaded 04/09/2020
Editorial Notes
26/01/2021: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The total final enrolment was added.
04/09/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The publication and dissemination plan was added.
2. The intention to publish date was added.
3. Uploaded protocol (not peer reviewed) Version 1.0, 01 February 2014.
4. The participant level data was added.
28/08/2020: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The secondary outcome measures were changed.
2. The trial participating centre address was updated.
