NCT06161831

HPV Vaccine Reminders - SEARCH II Study

SEARCH II: Short Message Service (SMS) Electronic Adolescent Reminders for Completion of HPV Vaccination - Uganda: Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 396 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Columbia University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 10 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This RCT will take place at health centres and their affiliated schools and community immunization centers overseen by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) as well as at the Makerere/Mulago/Columbia Adolescent Health Clinic in Kampala. The investigators will assess the impact of vaccine text message and automated phone reminders on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiation and completion.

Detailed description

Cervical cancer is the leading female cancer in Uganda. HPV is the principal cause of cervical cancer. The national HPV vaccination program in Uganda includes preteen/ adolescent girls. Vaccinations are provided within schools or through community health centers. However, in Kampala, HPV vaccination especially series completion is low. While research regarding the use of text message vaccine reminders is strong in the U.S., their use has not been demonstrated in a preteen/adolescent population in Sub-Saharan Africa and other low and middle income countries (LMICs) in a full RCT. In this study, RCT caregivers of preteens/adolescents will be randomized and stratified by site, language and HPV vaccine dose needed (initiation vs. completion). Intervention families will receive text message or automated phone reminders based on family preference.

Conditions

• Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Text Message/automated phone reminder	Receipt of text message or automated phone reminders notifying when the next HPV vaccine dose is due (either first or second)

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-04-22
• Primary completion: 2026-05-31
• Completion: 2026-07-31
• First posted: 2023-12-08
• Last updated: 2025-09-08

Locations

2 sites across 2 countries: United States, Uganda