A menstrual health intervention for self-help groups in rural Karnataka

Last registered on August 28, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
A menstrual health intervention for self-help groups in rural Karnataka
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014197
Initial registration date
August 16, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 28, 2024, 1:44 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
India
Region
Karnataka

Primary Investigator

Name
David Levine
Affiliation
Haas School of Business
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-19
End date
2026-03-31
Keywords
Behavior, Gender, Health
Additional Keywords
Menstrual cup, menstrual hygiene
JEL code(s)
I14, D12, M31, O15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Women in poor nations often have poor menstrual hygiene. We are testing whether an intervention within rural self-help groups can address these challenges. Specifically, we study
1. Can free trials can increase uptake of menstrual cups?
2. Do free trials by peers (which we hypothesize will increase uptake) increase cup uptake by peers who did not receive a free trial?
External Link(s)
IRB protocol

Registration Citation

Citation
Levine, David. 2024. "A menstrual health intervention for self-help groups in rural Karnataka ." AEA RCT Registry. August 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14197-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will market menstrual cups to JVK women's group meetings in rural Karnataka. These meetings already exist and have discussed menstrula hygiene management in the past.

We will offer cups for sale.

At half the meetings we will also offer free trials. Half the women (chosen by lottery) who volunteer for a free trial will receive one. Free trial recipients must either pay for the cup within 3 months or return it for disposal (and owe nothing). We invite (but do not require) free trial recipients to describe their experience with the cup.
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-19
Intervention End Date
2025-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Uptake of the menstrual cup among groups with and without the free trial.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Volunteering for a free trial, purchase rates among those interested in a free trial who did and who did not receive one.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomize which women's group meetings get free trials.
If multiple women volunteer for a free trial: Randomization of which women receive the free trial.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The PI will randomize women's meetings.
Within a meeting, women interested in a free trial pull numbers from a hat to see who gets a free trial.
Randomization Unit
JVK women's meetings are the main randomization
Within a meeting, women interested in a free trial are the unit of randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
100
Sample size: planned number of observations
4000 women
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 JVK meetings in each arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of California, Berkeley
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-14
IRB Approval Number
2022-11-15845
Analysis Plan