Studies from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Area of Clinical and Randomized Controlled Trials Published (Protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership’s home …)

2020 DEC 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on clinical and randomized controlled trials. According to news reporting from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Policy-makers are increasingly seeking rigorous evidence on the impact of programs that go beyond typical health care settings to improve outcomes for low-income families during the critical period around the transition to parenthood and through early childhood.”

Funders for this research include Laura and John Arnold Foundation; Conseil des Arts du Canada; BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation; Children’s Trust of South Carolina; Health Care Delivery Initiative.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “This study is a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership’s expansion in South Carolina. The scientific trial was made possible by a ‘Pay for Success’ program embedded within a 1915(b) Waiver from Medicaid secured by the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. This protocol describes study procedures and defines primary and secondary health-related outcomes that can be observed during the intervention period (including pregnancy through the child’s first 2 years of life). Primary study outcomes include (1) a composite indicator for adverse birth outcomes including being born small for gestational age, low birth weight (less than 2500 g), preterm birth (less than 37 weeks’ gestation), or perinatal mortality (fetal death at or after 20 weeks of gestation or mortality in the first 7 days of life), (2) a composite outcome indicating health care utilization or mortality associated with major injury or concern for abuse or neglect occurring during the child’s first 24 months of life, and (3) an indicator for an inter-birth interval of < 21 months. Secondary outcomes are defined similarly in three domains: (1) improving pregnancy and birth outcomes, (2) improving child health and development, and (3) altering the maternal life course through changes in family planning.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Evidence from this trial on the impact of home visiting services delivered at scale as part of a Medicaid benefit can provide policy-makers and stakeholders with crucial information about the effectiveness of home visiting programs in improving health and well-being for low-income mothers and children and about novel financing mechanisms for cross-silo interventions. Trial registration The trial was registered prospectively on the American Economic Association Trial Registry (the primary registry for academic economists doing policy trials) on 16 February 2016 ( AEARCTR-0001039 ). ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03360539 . Registered on 28 November 2017.”

For more information on this research see: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership’s home visiting program in South Carolina on maternal and child health outcomes. Trials, 2020,21(1):1-21. (Trials - https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com). The publisher for Trials is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04916-9.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Margaret A. McConnell, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Additional authors for this research include R. Annetta Zhou, Michelle W. Martin, Rebecca A. Gourevitch, Maria Steenland, Mary Ann Bates, Chloe Zera, Michele Hacker, Alyna Chien, Katherine Baicker.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)