Let’s go girls! The RITU RCT-study on breaking down menstrual barriers in Bangladesh. Cluster randomized controlled trial study on the impact and cost-effectiveness of improving Menstrual Health Management on wellbeing and academic achievement of girls in rural Bangladesh

Last registered on June 03, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Let’s go girls! The RITU RCT-study on breaking down menstrual barriers in Bangladesh. Cluster randomized controlled trial study on the impact and cost-effectiveness of improving Menstrual Health Management on wellbeing and academic achievement of girls in rural Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002164
Initial registration date
December 04, 2017

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
December 06, 2017, 10:56 AM EST

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

Last updated
June 03, 2019, 7:59 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Maastricht University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
UNU-MERIT
PI Affiliation
Maastricht University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2017-01-15
End date
2021-12-01
Secondary IDs
IRB 2016-09
Abstract
Background: Many girls in developing countries get their first menstrual period without knowing what it is, leaving them scared and ill-informed about practicing Menstrual Health (MH). Girls’ poor ability to manage MH plays a role in the barriers to education, and general wellbeing. This paper presents the protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial on the impact of a complex intervention facilitating MH in Bangladesh: the Ritu trial.

Methods/Design: We randomized 149 schools from one rural district, into three groups; i) receiving a school program (sanitation facilities, teacher trainings and MH module for school curriculum); ii) a school program and a household program (parental education and MH visual booklet); iii) a control group. The primary beneficiaries are schoolgirls in grades 6 until 8, age 11-15. The program will last for 3 years, and the primary outcomes are education outcomes, psychosocial outcomes and empowerment of adolescent girls. We will make use of administrative data, experimental data and survey data. School data of all pupils is collected throughout; additionally, a subsample of 4,172 girls partakes in surveys; Survey data collection took place at baseline (2017), and planned at midline (2019) and endline (2021). We will analyse both the short-term and long-term effects of both treatment arms in addition to cost-effectiveness evaluations and a process evaluation.

Discussion: Even though MH programs are becoming more popular, there is very limited evidence on the measurement of key outcomes and the impact of such programs. We aim to reduce these knowledge gaps and to provide policy lessons for future implementers or policymakers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Nillesen, Eleonora, Paul Smeets and Lidwien Sol. 2019. "Let’s go girls! The RITU RCT-study on breaking down menstrual barriers in Bangladesh. Cluster randomized controlled trial study on the impact and cost-effectiveness of improving Menstrual Health Management on wellbeing and academic achievement of girls in rural Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. June 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2164-3.0
Former Citation
Nillesen, Eleonora, Paul Smeets and Lidwien Sol. 2019. "Let’s go girls! The RITU RCT-study on breaking down menstrual barriers in Bangladesh. Cluster randomized controlled trial study on the impact and cost-effectiveness of improving Menstrual Health Management on wellbeing and academic achievement of girls in rural Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. June 03. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2164/history/47392
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
see pre analysis plan
Intervention Start Date
2017-04-01
Intervention End Date
2019-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Educational outcomes, psychosocial outcomes, empowerment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
see pre analysis plan

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Menstrual Health, Support for restrictive menstrual norms, physical health during menstruation, menstrual health support at school, sexual and reproductive health
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
see pre analysis plan
Experimental Design Details
see pre analysis plan
Randomization Method
see pre analysis plan
Randomization Unit
Schools
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
149 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
see pre analysis plan
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
39 schools treatment arm 1, 39 schools treatment arm 2, 71 control schools
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
see pre analysis plan
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Erasmus Research Institute of Management
IRB Approval Date
2016-11-17
IRB Approval Number
IRB 2016-09
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials