Browsing by Author "Nakyejwe, Esther"

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    One-year follow-up efects of the informed health choices secondary school intervention on students’ ability to think critically about health in Uganda: a cluster randomized trial
    (Trials, 2025) Ssenyonga, Ronald; Andrew, D. Oxman; Nakyejwe, Esther; Chesire, Faith; Mugisha, Michael; Nsangi, Allen; Matt, Oxman; Christopher, James Rose; Sarah, E. Rosenbaum; Jenny, Moberg; Kaseje, Margaret; Nyirazinyoye, Laetitia; Astrid, Dahlgren; Simon, Lewin; Sewankambo, Nelson K.
    We assessed the effects of the Informed Health Choices (IHC) secondary school intervention on students’ ability to think critically about choices 1 year after the intervention. Methods We randomized eighty secondary schools to the intervention or control (usual curriculum). The schools were randomly selected from the central region of Uganda and included rural and urban, government, and privately-owned schools. One randomly selected class of year-2 students (ages 14–17) from each school participated in the trial. The intervention included a 2-day teacher training workshop, 10 lessons accessed online by teachers and delivered in classrooms during one school term (May–August 2022). The lessons addressed nine prioritized IHC concepts. We used two multiple-choice questions for each concept to evaluate the students’ ability to think critically about choices at both the end of the school term and again after 1 year. The primary outcome was the proportion of students with a passing score (≥ 9 of 18 questions answered correctly) on the “Critical Thinking about Health” (CTH) test. Results After 1-year, 71% (1749/2477) of the students in the intervention schools and 71% (1684/2376) of the students in the control schools completed the CTH test. In the intervention schools, 53% (934/1749) of students who completed the test had a passing score compared to 33% (557/1684) of students in the control schools (adjusted difference 22%, 95% CI 16–28). Conclusions The effect of the IHC secondary school intervention on students’ ability to assess health-related claims was largely sustained for at least 1 year.
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    Use of the informed health choices educational intervention to improve secondary students’ ability to think critically about health interventions in Uganda: A cluster-randomized trial
    (Journal of Evidence‐Based Medicine, 2023-09-19) Ssenyonga, Ronald; Nakyejwe, Esther; Nsangi, Allen; Semakula, Daniel; Sewankambo, Nelson K.
    The aim was to evaluate the effect of the Informed Health Choices (IHC) educational intervention on secondary students’ ability to assess health-related claims and make informed choices. In a cluster-randomized trial, we randomized 80 secondary schools (students aged 13–17 years) in Uganda to the intervention or control (usual curriculum). The intervention included a 2-day teacher training workshop, 10 lessons accessed online by teachers and delivered in one school term. The lesson plans were developed for classrooms equipped with a blackboard or a blackboard and projector. The lessons addressed nine prioritized concepts. We used two multiple-choice questions for each concept to evaluate the students’ ability to assess claims and make informed choices. The primary outcome was the proportion of students with a passing score (≥9 of 18 questions answered correctly). Eighty schools consented and were randomly allocated. A total of 2477 students in the 40 intervention schools and 2376 students in the 40 control schools participated in this trial. In the intervention schools, 1364 (55%) of students that completed the test had a passing score compared with 586 (25%) of students in the control schools (adjusted difference 33%, 95% CI 26%–39%). The IHC secondary school intervention improved students’ ability to think critically and make informed choices. Well-designed digital resources may improve access to educational material, even in schools without computers or other information and communication technology (ICT). This could facilitate scaling-up use of the resources and help to address inequities associated with limited ICT access.