Understanding the impact, reach and implementation of a health systems intervention to improve diabetes and hypertension care in pluralistic urban public primary care in Bangladesh: a study protocol

Introduction

In Bangladesh, government provision of primary care in rural areas has seen the development of services for non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension and diabetes (given their substantial rise in recent decades). However, in the context of cities, which are characterised by a plurality of providers that have sprung up to meet the demands of a rapidly growing urban population, such provision is very limited.

Methods and analysis

We will conduct a mixed-methods study, based on the RE-AIM framework, to understand the (1) reach, (2) effectiveness, (3) adoption, (4) implementation and (5) maintenance (the five RE-AIM domains) of a health systems intervention to strengthen management processes for hypertension and diabetes within government and non-governmental organisation (NGO-run) primary care facilities. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, we will use a quasi-experimental, difference-in-differences design. We will recruit 20 purposively selected urban government-run and NGO-run primary care facilities across Dhaka North and South City Corporation areas. Ten facilities will be purposively allocated to an intervention group and receive training and guidance materials on diabetes and hypertension care, based on the WHO Package of Essential Non-communicable (PEN) Disease Intervention for Primary Care, and the use of an e-health application for patient records. The remaining facilities will be allocated to the existing care group and receive no intervention inputs, with identical data collection processes carried out in both groups. We aim to collect data on 50 patients visiting each facility during a baseline period and at 6 and 12 months after implementing the intervention. We will estimate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) for the intervention at 6 and 12 months after implementing the intervention on a primary outcome that measures how many of eight key management processes are appropriately carried out for each patient visit at a study facility (with the appropriateness of each management process determined by assessing criteria based on how patients should be managed according to the intervention guidelines). We will also estimate the ATT for the intervention at 6 and 12 months after implementing the intervention on each of the appropriate management processes making up the primary outcome as separate secondary outcomes. Alongside this design, we will collect a range of additional quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the other RE-AIM domains, using sequential mixed methods approaches, focusing on understanding potential facilitators and barriers in relation to these domains.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval has been received from the Research Governance Committee at the University of Leeds, UK (MREC 21-008) and from the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRCAIREC/20 I 9-2022/485). We will use a variety of channels to share our findings with policy makers, service providers, academicians and relevant stakeholders.